Dreams
by starrydream88
Summary: Was it a dream or a vision of the future? Tifa is plagued with visions and dreams that border reality. Will she be able to figure out what is happening before her world is no longer what she knows while dealing with her last year of High school? First time writing fanfiction, and it's been forever since I have played the game. Forgive my grammar. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Tifa knew she was at her limit as she blocked another attack that brought her down to her knees. S_hit_, she cursed as she felt something warm trickle down her forehead and over her eyes. Temporarily blinded. The sound of the battle reverberating through the cavern was heightened. She quickly wiped it off revealing the battle ground before her.

Her comrades were as bad off as her bloodied, battered, and exhausted. She gritted her teeth with anger at the monster before them. The monster who was responsible for the meteor headed to Midgar. He was formidable as a human, but now in his current form it was almost impossible for them to stop his summoning spell of the meteor. The monster before them appeared to have stopped halfway in his transformation from a human to a divine being. His upper body was the only distinguishable human part as the rest of him was made up an array of wings. Tifa could not see how they could defeat him. Luck was on their side at the beginning of the battle, but since the transformation he was hitting them harder with new attacks that she and her comrades were not prepared for. The healers were low on their magic source, and the back up potions they had brought were all gone.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the start of a shadow flare aimed in her direction. Ignoring the light-headed feeling, she pushed herself back onto her feet to dodge it. _Move_, she commanded her legs, but they did nothing. She tugged at her feet, and realized that the last attack had also paralyzed her legs. Breathing heavily, she put as much force as she could muster to move her legs. She felt her leg twitch as the paralysis began to wear off. A warm wet trickle of fresh blood began to trickle down her face. This was the end of the line for her. She closed her eyes as she braced against the pain that would accompany the attack.

She felt the air change around her, but no pain came. Tifa opened her eyes to the back of one of her comrades. Her eyes trailed up to identify who it was. It was a young man with blond hair matted with dirt and blood. He gripped his buster sword tightly with his left hand. The buster sword was dragging on the ground from its weight. His right arm hung limply next to his body. A steady stream of red was flowing from underneath his right arm armor and onto the ground. She whispered his name and he turned around. His striking blue eyes filled with concern enveloped her view. Even in the chaos of the battle ground, she felt her stomach flutter from his gaze.

At that moment, she felt the cool rush of the healer's cure hit her body. It briefly sealed some of the shallower wounds, and lifted the paralysis in her legs. Tifa gave the young man a smile, and did a few air jabs to show him she was better. His blue eyes were still filled with concern. Tifa waved him on, "Go!" He opened his mouth to to say something, but someone called out his name. He nodded at her before he ran back to the front resuming his position in the battle.

A faint distinct ringing began to fill the cavern and it began to crescendo drowning out the sound of the battle. Tifa glanced around to pinpoint the source of the sound. Distracted, she did not see one of the wings of the monster swooping down towards her. She was sent sailing across the cavern as the force of the wing hit her.

The pain of the impact coursed through her body. She grimaced as the pain intensified in her right arm. As the pain subsided, she pushed herself off the ground. The floor give way a little, causing her to fall back down onto the ground. It felt springy. _That is odd_, she thought, as she tried again only to find herself with a mouth full of dirt. The ringing was now louder and almost unbearable. Tifa tried to get up, but it felt like moving through a high viscosity syrup. The battle scene before her began to pan away from her.

The young blonde man saw her and ran towards her. Tifa saw him glance at the monster before he turned back to her with desperation. Dropping his sword, he reached out to her. She struggled against the invisible force that was pinning her hand down to reach out to his outstretched hand. But the unknown force pulled her away from his reach. Tifa struggled to yell out the young man's name, but could not. The force pulled her further away and up. "Cloud!" She finally managed to yell out as she awoke in her bed with her alarming ringing relentlessly.

_I have to get back_, Tifa frantically thought. Slightly disoriented she struggled against her covers that entangled her. She could see the striking blue eyes, and his hands reaching out to her. _He is waiting, he needs me._ Tifa tried to conjure up his name, but could not. She grasped at the memory, or was it a dream. She was not a sure. Freeing herself from the covers, she rolled over to turn off her alarm that was angrily blinking 0500. Tifa laid back down on her bed as she tried to remember. _Was it a dream_? A prickly sensation coursed through her arm causing her to flinch. Massaging her arm, she tried to recall the details and the name she had yelled out. _It was dark...maybe I was running? What was the name...I swear I yelled out Clo...Chloe? Claude? C... _In frustration Tifa mussed her and kicked the blanket. It was no use, it was like grabbing water.

"T!" her father yelled from downstairs, "You are going to be late for your first day as a senior in high school! Get moving young lady!"

Tifa remembered now where she was. She was in the slums of Midgar where her father had bought a small bar. It was after her mother's death that her father used up their small savings intended for a house in Nibelheim and bought a bar in Midgar. They made their home on the second floor of the bar. She snuggled against her worn out Moogle doll as she suppressed the tears at the thought of her mother's death. Not wanting to think of her mother Tifa switched her train of thought to the cold war. The cold war she had started against him after he made the decision of moving. Her thoughts led her down the memories of her first year as a city folk. She snuggled further into her blankets as happier memories surfaced.

"Tifa!" yelled her father again. "You are going to miss the train!"

Tifa peeked out of blanket and saw her alarm blinking 0525. _Shit!_ Tifa cursed. Springing out of bed, she scrambled around for her clothes. She pulled on her typical black leather shorts, and white shirt. Pulling her long dark brown hair in a ponytail she examined herself in the mirror. She made a face in the mirror, she hated how her breasts had grown. They were the culprit for the bit of midriff showing; they were causing her t-shirts to ride up. _I need to buy new shirts, again_ she thought slightly upset. She had just bought new ones about a month ago. Sighing, she grabbed a black leather jacket trying to cover her midriff, but it did nothing but cause the shirt to ride up revealing more skin. Angrily she tossed the leather jacket across the room. _Forget it,_ she thought, as she forced on a smile._ Breathe, everything will be okay._ She briefly thought to grab her school bag, but decided against it. Tifa made her way downstairs into the bar where she found her father sitting at the bar counter reading. He briefly looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to school in that?"

"Don't start," Tifa said as she grabbed a slice of toasted bread. She slathered on raspberry jam on the slice. With the toast in her mouth, she walked over to her father. She gave him a hug as she checked the Midgar Tribune over his shoulder. She frowned seeing the header. "**Shinra Corporation Making Elite Soldiers with Mako**." She leaned in closer as she tried to read the small print. Her father cleared his throat as he closed the newspaper. "You, young lady better eat your breakfast. You need to get going or you will miss the train prior to the morning rush." Tifa looked at the clock, and silently cursed.

"I got to run!" she yelled as she shoved the rest of the toast in her mouth. She started coughing. Her dad shook his head as he handed her a glass of juice and patted her back. He chuckled, she was never an early riser. It was probably his fault with her helping out at the bar. He watched his daughter turn red from the coughing fit. "You okay?" he asked as he patted her back to help her. She waved at him to stop.

"Just went down the wrong way," she said in between coughs.

"Do you need your backpack!?" her dad shouted at her as she rushed out of the bar. Slamming the door behind her. He cringed, "That girl..."

Tifa paused and yelled back at him from outside the bar, "Love you! See you later! Thanks for breakfast!"

He shook his head. He prayed silently for his daughter to stay out of trouble. He picked up the newspaper again and frowned as he re-read the headline and skimmed the content. A name in the content made him pause. His hand shook as he flipped the newspaper to see the image associated with the name. He slammed the newspaper down. He went to a drawer behind the bar and shuffled through the junk drawer. He rummaged briefly in the drawer until he pulled out an worn silver cellphone and a battery pack. After several minutes he was able to figure out how to open the cellphone, and insert the battery. The phone immediately lit up when he got the battery in correctly.

He sighed as he squinted at the numbers. Slowly, he dialed a number he thought he would never use again.

* * *

_Please don't let me miss the train! _Tifa prayed. She ran as fast as she could to the train station. Praying that she would make it in time for the train prior to the morning rush. Riding the morning rush hour train was always an unpleasant ride. Cramped, and packed in like sardines in can. Tifa cringed, there were also perverts that took advantage of people in those situations.

Tifa sighed with relief as arrived at the station. She saw the train she wanted arrive as she made her way to the gate. Tifa got in line behind an elderly lady with a faded pink bow in her hair. _Cute, _she smiled. The elderly lady was swiping her card repeatedly as she tried to get the machine to accept her card. It was holding up the line. People behind her began to complain while others moved to another gate. "Here let me try," Tifa smiled gently as she offered to help the elderly lady.

The elderly lady bobbed her head and thanks. The lady handed her train pass card, "I don't know why its not working. I never had this problem."

She swiped the card a few times, and got the same result. It did was not working. Impatiently, she got out her own student ID card and swiped it for the lady. "Its on me," she said as she returned the lady's card, "You should definitely have this card checked out at the service counter."

"Thank you child," the elderly lady said as she walked through, "I will."

Tifa left the line to purchase her ticket, since her card only limited her entrance for twice a day. She cursed the Shinra incorporation silently at their ridiculous rules. When Tifa finally made it through the gate, the train she had tried so hard to get on was gone. _If only I had not ran into that elderly lady_, she thought as she waited for the next train. More people began to fill up the station as she waited for the next train.

Finally, the train arrived and everyone rushed inside. Tifa found herself smashed against a window furthest from the door. It was so pack she could not move her arms to even scratch her nose. Her nose was began to itch. Reaching it's capacity, the train started to close its door. Ignoring the train conductor's instruction to stop filing in, people continued to stuff themselves into the train compartment. This caused a small delay as the train serviceman had to drag out some people so the door would close. The train compartment began to heat up from all the bodies stuffed like a sardine in a can. She could hear the a/c kick in. Some people sighed with relief as the cool air drafted through the compartment. _Thank goodness everyone bathed today_, Tifa prayed thankfully. The train whistled signalling it's departure. The train sped away from the slums into the nicer part of Midgar.

After five minutes on the train, Tifa felt a hand move against her breast. Horrified, she realized that the hand was actually groping her breast. She could not move her arms to slap it away due to the crowd. Gritting her teeth, she mentally threw curse words at the owner. _If my arms were not pinned, you pervert. You would be on the ground crying and asking for mercy. _She felt tears welling from her rising anger. Cursing under her breath, she took a deep breath to yell at the pervert. Before she could do anything, the groping stopped. The hand was quickly pulled away. As someone exclaimed,"That hurt you little punk!"

The crowd murmured as someone attempted to move through the department. Tifa found herself pressed against the window even more. _This is one of the many reasons why I hate riding the rush hour train. So many inconsiderate jerks. _The movement stopped as the person who caused it arrived in front of her. Already frustrated by her morning, she opened her mouth to say something. But she became speechless as the person placed his hands on either side of her and audaciously pushed against the crowd. The movement gave her room, but now she was trapped in between the person's arms. She could feel the heat from her blush. "Sorry," murmured a young man's voice in her ear. The familiarity of the voice caused Tifa to look up at the owner of the voice. The first thing she noticed were his eyes. Her dream bubbled up below the surface of her mind as his eyes caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

* * *

Author comment:

Edited a little bit. Thank you again for the views! -21OCT15


	2. Chapter 2

Tifa felt her breathe catch as she felt herself drowning in his eyes the color of a clear sky on a cold winter day. The dream failed to break through the surface of her consciousness and faded away. He blinked and Tifa looked away as she felt a warm flush rise up to her cheeks. "Sorry, again" the young man mumbled as he stepped in closer when the train jerked to the side. Tifa didn't notice the slight pink hue that was arose in the young man's cheek since she was turned away. The trained stabilized and he pushed against the crowd again so there was space between him and Tifa. A small wave of complaints arose from the crowd when he pushed back, but he ignored it. Tifa checked him out from the corner of her eyes and flushed, he was quite an attractive guy. He had blonde hair which was haphazardly spiked. She wondered if his hair was as soft as it looked despite the spikes. He looked down at Tifa. Tifa's brown eyes widen with embarrassment when their eyes met. Tifa quickly turned her head pretending to be preoccupied by the exit sign. She could feel herself flush again from that brief eye contact. Her palm became sweaty as her stomach fluttered from being so close to him. She chided herself silently; _I can't believe I am making such a fool of myself. It is not like I don't know how to talk properly to a guy. For goodness sake, I work at a bar and had plenty of guys flirt with me who were as handsome as him._

She snuck another look at him and saw that he had closed his eyes. He shifted and placed his left hand on the window near her head. Her heart began to beat faster as he leaned in slightly bracing himself. The train jerked again. Caught off guard Tifa crashed into him. She felt his muscle tense, but he did not move away.

"I am so sorry," Tifa stuttered, as she quickly stepped back avoiding eye contact and tried to balance against the window. _Stop blushing like a fool! _Tifa order herself. _Why can't I stop blushing_!The train finally resumed its steady sway and Tifa was able to relax. Lacing her hands together she tried to occupy her mind on something else other than the young man before her. But her mind kept wandered back to him. She could not shake the nagging feeling that she knew him, but her mind could not pinpoint where and how. Annoyed that she couldn't figure out why, Tifa turned her attention to his attire. He was in a deep blue blazer and matching pants with a deep blue and white striped tie. _Looks like a school uniform_, she guessed_, he looks about the same age as me. I wonder what school he goes to_. She noticed he was holding a school bag in his other hand. The bag was indistinguishable besides the baby blue moogle tag. The tag was super cute. _Did a girl give it him? Maybe he has a sister. I hope it was from his sister, _Tifa thought as she leaned in closer to see if there was a name written on the tag.

The young man cleared his throat; Tifa stopped what she was doing when she realized that their bodies were touching. She flushed a deep red as she mumbled, "Sorry." as she quickly leaned back against the window recovering the space between him and her. She watched the scenery fly by outside the window as the train zoomed its way closer to the heart of the city.

They continued the train ride in silent. It was the longest and shortest train ride Tifa had ever experienced as she tried to occupy her mind of other things besides the young man in front of her. She couldn't help wondered why he felt so familiar. Before too long, her stop was called. She excused herself as she made her way through the crowd towards the door.

She glanced back at the young man; he had taken her spot, and still had his eyes closed. _He doesn't look too good_, Tifa thought,_ maybe I should check_. She made a move to go back, but at that instance the door opened at her stop and she was swept away with the crowd out of the train.

Tifa waited outside of the train, hoping he would get off too, but he didn't. She was about to make her back into the train when a body slammed into her squealing in delight, "Teeeeee!"

Tifa smiled immediately recognizing who it was from the voice. It was Yuffie her best friend since she had moved to Midgar. She was shorter than Tifa, but she made up for it with her energy. Tifa laughed at her friend's enthusiasm and turned to greet her friend. "Yuffie!"

The first thing she saw was the unusual attire her friend was dressed instead of her usual shorts and crop top. She was in a white blouse paired with deep blue skirt and a cute blue and orange bowtie. Seeing her friend looking at her outfit Yuffie did a sassy pose causing her short black hair to bounce. Tifa gulped, "Please don't tell me…"

"Tee! You are so daring coming to school without your uniform," Yuffie said as she tried to hold in her laughter, "I can't believe that you…" No longer able to hold in her laughter, Yuffie busted out laughing when she looked over her friend's attire.

"Yuffie! This is horrifying! I can't show up to school like this!" Tifa exclaimed as tears began to well up from embarrassment. _Oh my gosh, this is the worst that could happen_, she thought,_and it's on her first day of classes_. "I wasn't even notified that they had uniforms!"

Yuffie saw the tears starting up, and her laughter stopped. She grabbed her friend's hand to deter the tears from falling, she quickly said, "I figured you wouldn't have heard since you have been gone all summer long. So I brought an extra pair of mine."

"You are a life saver!" Tifa exclaimed as she hugged her friend tightly, "we better get going or we will both be late!"

Together they found a public restroom outside of the train station at a coffee shop. As Tifa quickly changed Yuffie explained the situation, "Our school building is under renovation. Due to some sort of leak or something. Who knows…anyways, we are using a building at the private school a few blocks down the street."

Tifa paused, "Wait...you mean the Highwind prestigious school?"

Yuffie responded, "Yep," and continued her explanation, "But they wouldn't let the students go there without wearing a uniform so they issued a last minute decree last week that uniforms are to be worn to even step foot on the school property. How is it going? I hope the uniform fits okay… And you have to tell me how your summer was! I can't believe you just came back a few days ago!" Tifa smiled as her friend chatted away. She finished putting on the uniform, and frowned. She didn't know if showing up in her street clothes was any better than in Yuffie's school uniform. The skirt looked shorter compared to her long legs, and the blouse was all good with the exception of the chest area. Tifa had to unbutton a few from the top to fit in. Tifa grimaced as she opened the door Yuffie's eyes grew big and whistled when her friend stepped out of the stall "Wow Tee! You have grown since I last saw you!"

Tifa gave her a scowl as she stuffed her clothes into her backpack. "Let's get going before we are late for the ceremony."

Yuffie giggled as she teased her friend, "Your legs are like a mile long in that skirt! And your boobs…!"

"Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed embarrassed at her friend's comment, "Can you stop it now?"

"I bet you will have all those rich boys…" Yuffie started but was stopped as her friend pinched her, "Ouch! Okay, okay… I'll stop."

"What time do you have?" Tifa asked as they made their way past their school and made their way to the private school. Yuffie looked at her watch and stopped.

"Ummm…" Yuffie started, "I just remembered that my watch ran out of battery a few days ago."

Tifa saw that they were the only ones making their way to the school. With a sinking feeling she grabbed her friend's hand and began a sprint to the school as they heard the faint sound of the bell ring.

Out of breath, Tifa and Yuffie looked through the bars of the school gate. "I...can't….get this…."Tifa started as she tried to catch her breath, "on...my...record…"

Yuffie and Tifa walked around the gated school to see if there was an easy way to climb over the gate. As they both walked around the corner they saw a young man with black spiked hair straddling the fence as he helped a girl with light brown hair that was tied up in a pink ribbon over the fence.

Yuffie quickly ran over waving her arms, "Can you also help us too!?"

The young man looked at them and replied something to the girl he helped before he turned to Tifa and Yuffie and urgently said, "Quickly ladies!" Yuffie jumped up and he grabbed her arms. He easily hauled her up to the fence. The young man turned to Tifa with a twinkle in his eyes. With a coy smile he teased her, "It must be my lucky day to be able to help a beautiful damsel in distress."

Tifa kept her mouth shut and smiled icily at him. She wanted to smack that twinkle out of his eyes, but did not want to ruin her only way in. She followed Yuffie's moves and found herself over the fence and into the school yard. If she had time to take in her surrounding she would have been awed at the beautiful landscaping the school ground had to offer. She turned around to ask the young man where the entrance ceremony was being held and saw he was hauling up another person. Before she could see who it was, Yuffie grabbed her hand dragging her away. "This way!" her friend said as she led the way.

Tifa and Yuffie finally made it to the building where the entrance ceremony was being held at. They tried opening the door, but it was locked. Tifa groaned, "I should have stayed in bed today. Tell me please this is just a nightmare and that I am still in bed."

"Don't give up yet Tifa!" Yuffie said encouragingly, as she led her friend around the building. Fortune was upon them. They saw the light brown hair girl with the pink ribbon holding a door open.

"Hurry ladies!" said the young man with black hair as he ran past them with another person. Tifa's heart skipped a beat when she recognized the golden hair person rushing past her. Without a word, Yuffie and Tifa followed the guys through the door. The light brown hair girl looked at them quizzically, but the young man with black hair explained, "Its fine Aerith, let them in. It's their first day."

The girl called Aerith didn't say anything as she closed the door quietly behind them. Tifa and Yuffie followed the group silently as they made their way through the room filled with random stuff. _Must be the stage storage room,_ she thought trying to keep herself from thinking about the young blonde hair man in front of her.

Yuffie leaned in closer from behind as she whispered to Tifa, "Tee, these guys are super cute! Especially that blonde one! I wonder which one is that girl's boyfriend."

Tifa shushed her, fearing Yuffie's voice would carry. They walked through a door and found the stage before them. Tifa and Yuffie stopped, realizing they were in the wrong side of the auditorium. The young man with black hair smiled at them, "Just act like you should be there. We can't leave you back here or the teachers will wonder and question why you are here and not down with your classmates. "

Tifa and Yuffie looked at each other nervously. Tifa almost jumped when the young blonde hair man leaned in whispered in her ears, "Everything will be fine, just follow Zack's lead."

Tifa nodded nervously. This day had gotten worse. She was hoping to show up discreetly and get through the day. _I should have stayed in bed_, she groaned silently, _this has to be the worst and most embarrassing thing I have had to go through_. If it weren't for her friend Yuffie and the young blonde man she would have turned tail and ran back home. She tried not to think of her attire. At that moment another young handsome man came behind stage. He had long silver hair and an aura of something she could not place her finger on.

"Well, I am glad you guys finally decided to show up." he said coldly as he eyed the group with a hint of disappointment, "I was wondering if I would have to man this ceremony by myself."

"Sephiroth," the young man called Zack responded, "We would never leave you hanging by yourself. We were just gathering this year's class representatives from the new class entering in."

Zack turned to Tifa and Yuffie, "Don't mind Seph. He is not one for these ceremonies. He gets a bit grouchy especially with the new people coming in always ogling him."

Sephiroth just rolled his strikingly eerie green eyes at Zack, and ushered them onto the stage. Tifa thought his eyes were a bit strange, but didn't think much of it as she followed the girl name Aerith onto the stage. _Please don't trip, please don't trip_, Tifa prayed silently as she carefully followed Aerith out to the chairs in the middle of the stage. Luckily, there were extra seats for Yuffie and Tifa. Everyone took their seat except for Sephiroth and the young man with blonde hair. Sephiroth opened the ceremony with his speech. Tifa was looking forward to the young man's introduction.

Sephiroth turned to the young blond man to introduce him "...and here is this year's president…" before Sephiroth could finish his eyes rolled back, and his body crumpled towards the ground. Luckily the blonde hair man was nearby. He was able to catch Sephiroth before his body hit the floor. Everyone on stage jumped out of their seat and rushed to his side. Tifa reacted to the situation instinctually. Without a thought Tifa kneeled down as she checked his breathing and his temperature. At the touch of him, Tifa began to experience a splitting headache. She stepped back, as she told Zack, "Get him to the nurse he is burning up." She sat down on one of the chairs and placed her head between her knees as she breathed though the pain coursing through head. "Tee" she heard Yuffie say in a faded voice. _Weird_, she thought _she sound so distance._

A weird buzzing sound filled the auditorium, and Tifa found herself standing in a strange laboratory made out of steel. And random large glass tubes filled with something Tifa could not distinguish. _What the hell...Where am I? _She asked herself as she looked around. Something bright caught the corner of her eye, it was a thick trail of bright red droplets of some sort. She followed it with her eyes and it lead to a man in black leather armor with long silver hair that floated wispily around him from a phantom wind. He was holding a thin sword that was twice the man's height. She found the source of what left the trail. Tifa shivered in terror recognizing what the liquid was as she became aware of the bodies surrounding him and her. The man turned. Tifa held in a gasp when she recognized him as the Sephiroth she just met. But the Sephiroth in front of her was older with longer hair, and a heavy evil diabolic aura that emitted from him. The only common thing this Sephiroth had with the other Sephiroth was their eerie green eyes. Sephiroth hysterically laughed among the dead bodies surrounding him. Tifa did not know where it came from or why but she felt a surge of anger rise at the sight of him. She could not control herself as her body shifted into her aggressive fighting stance. She charged at him.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews and views! They are quite encouraging to keep going with this story.

Now you are probably wondering what the heck is going on...so am I o.O

Disclaimer: There might be events seen in the game storyline, but they are of my own rendition...and probably not accurate...

* * *

Chapter 3:

Tifa panicked internally as her body moved on its own. She knew she was no match for this man. _What the hell is going on here!? How the hell did I get here!?_Tifa screamed inside her mind as she struggled to get her body to listen to her. But her body did not obey her; it was as if she was just a passenger in her own body as someone else operated it. She felt two strong emotions coursing through her. They were hatred and anger. About what she didn't know? _No!_ She screamed inside of her mind as she kept trying to stop her body from attacking Sephiroth. _Stop! You are no match for him! Run away from him! Damn it!_

With a flick of his wrist, Sephiroth's long thin sword effortlessly whipped through the air counterattacking her charge. Tifa tried to twist in time to avoid his sword, but the tip of the blade caught her back. The blade easily sliced through her shirt and skin leaving a long gash from her shoulder blade down to her waist. Ignoring the pain, Tifa charged again. But Sephiroth was ready and guided his sword straight down onto Tifa. Tifa brought up her arms to defend against the blade of the sword. Luckily the sword blade was stopped by her leather guards she was wearing on her forearms. But the force of the clash was too much for her to stand her ground. She was sent flying.

Tifa crashed into the lines of the glass tubes she had spotted earlier. Temporarily dazed from the wind knocked out of her she laid there on the ground. Getting onto her knees, she let out a small cry as sharp pain arose from her rib cage. Even though Tifa did not have control of her body she still felt the pain from the broken rib bones. Taking deep breaths she was able to get onto her knees. The pain from her broken ribs were so intense that she did not notice her back bleeding profusely. She looked up to see Sephiroth making his way towards her. At first she thought he was looking at her, but his eyes were focused behind her.

Tifa looked behind her; she reacted without thinking as she scooted away as fast as she could from the glass tubes. Lights had turned on inside the tubes revealing grotesque malformed bodies of different stages of human development. They all had one common feature, long silver hair. Tifa heard a blood curdling cry mixed with disgust and despair from behind her followed by another set of manic laughter. Tifa gulped. She got up on her feet ignoring the pain from her rib cage and the loss of blood. Whatever was in the tubes was no concern for her. She was here for one thing and it was to destroy this man. _What!? Why…just get the hell out of here!_ Tifa shouted at herself.

"Tifa!" shouted a familiar voice, "Move!" She looked up and saw two men dressed as soldiers entering the room at a sprint. One was wearing his helmet so she couldn't make out any of his features while the other didn't. She recognized the spiked black haired man, it was Zack and he was carrying a large buster sword over his shoulder. _Was he the one who shouted out to me? How does he know my name? _Questions flooded Tifa's mind as she watched the scene before her. She moved out of the way painfully as Zack charged at Sephiroth. Unlike her, he was up to par with Sephiroth. It took effort and concentration for Sephiroth to deflect the attack away from him.

"Shinra mutts," spat out Sephiroth in distaste as Zack came at him again. His green eyes flashed with hatred as he counterattacked Zack's movement. Tifa tried to follow their movements, but they were too fast for her. The soldier in the helmet ran to Tifa and practically dragged her away from harm's way.

Tifa felt herself weakening by the second; _that cut must be deeper than I thought, _she realized. The soldier in helmet shakily grabbed a vial from one of his pockets. Uncapping it he helped pour it down Tifa's throat. Tifa numbly sat there, as she watched the battle scene over his shoulder. The potion she was given was acting slower than usual. She could see Sephiroth's incessant attacks were succeeding in the attrition of Zack's stamina. Sephiroth was looking for an opening. He was awarded with one and he was able to catch Zack unguarded causing his buster sword to sail across the room. "Zack…" Tifa yelled out weakly as Sephiroth swung his sword at Zack who was wide open.

The person in the helmet turned to face the fight hearing her say his friend's name, without a word he rushed to his friend's aid as Sephiroth's sword sliced through Zack's armor. Tifa slowly lost consciousness. The last thing she saw was the soldier in the helmet striking Sephiroth straight through chest from the back with a buster sword. She had no idea how he had gotten his hand on a buster sword so fast. The soldier didn't even wait to see if that brought Sephiroth down. He rushed to Zack who was on the ground surrounded by a large pool of blood. She could see he was fading away fast from the lost of blood. Tifa closed her eyes, as the room filled with the man's cry of despair.

In a heavy slumber Tifa was slightly aware that her surrounding of cold hard steel was replaced with a warm comforting soft feeling. It was like a freshly cleaned blanket straight from the dryer wrapped around her gloriously. She reveled in the sensation, and snuggled closer. When she moved, she noticed that her hands were intertwined with someone else. She smiled at the warmth of the person's hand as she fell back into the realm of unconsciousness.

"Tifa!" shouted a voice awakening Tifa from whatever it was she was experiencing. _Was it a dream or a vision?_ Tifa asked herself as she tried to wrap her mind around what just happened. Tifa caught a whiff of a pleasant smell mixed with fresh soap and diesel. Burrowing her nose closer to the source of the scent, she stopped when her nose touched a warm surface. Surprised by the warmth, she opened her eyes to a neck that was lightly tanned. She blushed furiously when she became aware that she was being carried like a princess down the hallway by none other than the young blonde haired man. In addition she had snuggled her nose right against his neck. _Please kill me now, _she thought and assumed she was being carried to the infirmary. To her relief someone had draped a blue blazer over her the bottom half of her body hiding the skirt. Tifa peered over his shoulder and saw Yuffie trailing behind him with a worried look.

"You can put me down," Tifa said softly as she struggled against his grip. The young man's grip did not lessen. "Thank you for your help, but I swear I am fine now." Tifa said again trying to push off of him again, but this time she felt a sharp pain in her ribcage and on her back. She gasped in pain. Black dots swarmed in her vision. His grip tightened as he hurried his way down the hallway.

They made it to the infirmary, but no one was there. The young man gently sat Tifa down on one of the beds. He rummaged through the infirmary supplies tossing things he needed on a tray. Tifa carefully looked behind her to see what the throbbing pain coursing down from her shoulder blade to her waist. _It can't be_, she thought, _that was just a dream. That wasn't real. _The pain told her otherwise.

"Have her take this." The young man tossed a small vial at Yuffie who easily caught it. She uncapped it and helped pour the liquid into Tifa's mouth. Tifa sputtered at the bitter taste of the content.

"Do you know what you are doing?" asked Tifa as she watched him look through the medicine cabinet.

He ignored her comment. "Can you take her shirt off?" asked the young man as he rolled the tray with the supplies he had haphazardly tossed on, near the bed. Yuffie silently helped her friend unbutton the blouse.

With the help of her friend she got the blouse unbuttoned, but the movement of removing her arms from the sleeves caused the black dots to grow bigger. The pain in her ribs and back were intensifying. Tifa fought to keep hold of her consciousness. Yuffie was finally able to tug the blouse off of her. "What the hell?" Yuffie exclaimed when she saw a long deep gash on her friend's back that ran from her shoulder blade down to her waist. Cloud sat down on the bed behind Tifa. She felt his gently prodding her back causing waves of intense pain to course through her body.

"Tee, what's going on?" asked Yuffie frightened for her friend. She spoke with in a quiet voice to Tifa, "After someone had called the ambulance taking Sephiroth away. Everyone was dismissed from the ceremony. You were just sitting there with your head between your knees. Right before my eyes your shirt became soaked in blood. I panicked and I tried waking you up," Yuffie began to cry, "You were so cold to touch." She continued through her sniffles "Luckily, Cloud," she pointed at the young man, "Saw it too. And we made our way to the infirmary. What happened Tee?"

_Cloud…_Tifa silently repeated his name in her mind. Turning her attention back to Yuffie's question she started. "I don't….YEOOWWWHHHH!" Tifa yelped as she flinched away from Cloud when she felt him pour some liquid over her wound. Cloud gently but firmly gripped her shoulder and carefully blotted the wound. Tifa clenched the covers of the bed. Within seconds though she felt a cool numbing sensation as she felt her wound close up and the pain in her ribs fade. It was replaced with a dull ache. Her grip on the covers loosened; she felt almost back to normal.

"You will have a scar," Cloud apologetically said softly with a hint of sadness as if he was responsible for it, "I am sorry Tifa." He leaned down and picked up the blazer that had fallen on the floor next to the bed. And he gently wrapped it around Tifa's shoulder to cover her up.

"Is she going to be okay?" Yuffie asked anxiously as she peered at friend who still looked a bit dazed.

"She will be fine, she needs some rest," Cloud answered and instructed her, "You should go back to your class. And will you make up an excuse for Tifa? Keep her back incident a secret."

Yuffie nodded and looked at her friend for confirmation that she was fine. Tifa nodded, "Go Yuffie, I will be fine. I will try to get out of here after lunch."

Yuffie nodded slowly and said to Tifa, "I will stop by at lunch, and check up on you. I will try to find you a new shirt." Tifa smiled at her friend as she left the infirmary.

Cloud sighed. Tifa turned around to look at him but stopped when he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "What…" Tifa started as she blushed. She was suddenly aware that she was sitting there in her bra and a blazer on a bed with a guy that made her stomach do flip flops at the touch and sight of him.

"Tifa," Cloud said softly as if he was afraid that she would disappear. His voice startled her from her daze caused by his touch, "Did you see Sephiroth. Not the Sephiroth you just met, but an older one in your dream you just had?"

"I did see Sephiroth…but we were in a place I have never seen. It was a large laboratory with," Tifa shivered when she remembered what was in the tubes, "they were experimenting or cloning him. And Sephiroth had killed everyone. What are you getting at?" asked Tifa. Silences filled the room.

"And you fought him, and got hit in the back by his sword. Zack and another soldier appeared soon after right?" Cloud finished for her, surprising Tifa.

_So he had seen the same scene then?_ _I didn't see him there, _Tifa wondered, _what the heck is going. What was up with that vision?_

"This is going to sound weird." Cloud hesitantly said still resting his head on her shoulder, "The visions you are seeing are happening, or have happened from a different timeline or dimension than ours." Confused, Tifa tried to grasp what he was getting at. "Have you heard of the Lifestream?" he asked her.

"Yes, it's a theory that all life comes from it and is basically the life source of the world we live in," Tifa responded and she added, "but that was my first time seeing something like that before." Tifa shook her head. _No, there was that strange dream she had, but couldn't remember._ Tifa didn't mention it, since she could not remember what it was. _Were there others that she could not remember?_

"You, I mean the Tifa from the other timeline, and I got stuck in the Lifestream for a bit…due to something. I have yet to figure out. But somehow…we are getting glimpses of the events that happened to us in another timeline," Cloud slowly explained, "I just recently started having them over the summer, but mainly as dreams at night. I have a suspicion that when our other selves got stuck in the Lifestream, something happened that caused a leak that is connecting our timeline dimension to theirs. I am surprised that is the first time you have experienced it."

"Okay…visions are one thing, but that does not explain how the physical inflictions can crossover." Tifa said as she moved causing Cloud to raise his head from her shoulder. She turned to face him carefully, since she did not want to reopen her wounds.

"That was the first time I have seen a physical infliction crossover," said Cloud with a hint of worry, "I knew what you were seeing from the wound on your back."

So many questions came to mind; Tifa struggled to pick one to ask. But before she could, Cloud got off the bed, "Get some rest; we can talk some more later when you feel better."

"But…" Tifa argued as she stifled a yawn, "This is all sudden. And it just seems unbelievable but the wounds were real."

Cloud rearranged the blazer again since it had slipped off. If she wasn't so sleepy all of the sudden, Tifa would have blushed. He placed it around her shoulders and buttoned it up. He then gently guided her down on to the bed. "The sleeping draught should be kicking in about now."

"What sleeping draught..."Tifa trailed off as the heaviness of sleep overrode her will to stay awake. Just as she slipped into the the realm of dreams she felt a soft gently touch on her cheeks followed by a feather-like kiss on her forehead. With a sigh and a smile she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Author Comment:

Yay! Wow this was a harder to write...I have been writing and rewriting this chapter. x_X

This is a bit longer...a lot of things happened.

* * *

Chapter 4:

After Cloud had tucked Tifa in, he sat on a chair next to the bed. Sighing with relief, he sat there watching the rise and fall of her breathing. _She's beautiful._ Cloud thought as he observed her._ A younger and carefree Tifa, _he chuckled to himself remembering Tifa from the other timeline. _Oh, how I wish I could make this all go away. _Cloud silently thought remembering the shock of seeing the blood on her back that appeared out of nowhere after Sephiroth was taken away by the ambulance. He felt a pull to look back at Tifa, as if someone whispered in his ears. Tifa was sitting in a chair with her head bowed between her knees; he saw the blood appear instantly. He intuitively knew that her wound was related to the visions. Covering her with a blazer he picked her up and hurried to the infirmary. He knew the wound needed immediate attention. Seeing the long gash re-confirmed his suspicion that she was seeing the other timeline like him.

Cloud tried to quell the fear that was forming. _The wound crossing over...is that a sign? A sign that the timelines are beginning to merge_? He had spent his summer trying to figure out the visions and why. But every avenue he checked out turned out to be dead end, he had met almost every person from his vision, but none of them gave a hint of having crazy dreams like his. All he knew was that he had to find Tifa. Now that he found her, it broke his heart and tore at him that he could do nothing to keep Tifa from getting involved with this strange phenomenon. Seeing her receive the same scar felt like he had failed her again. He ran his hand through his hair frustrated and bowed his head. A breeze came through the opened window and he caught a scent of lavender and vanilla. The scent brought him back to the train ride from this morning.

When he spotted Tifa this morning on the train ride to school, it was difficult for him to maintain his silent and distance. Originally he planned to just observe her and only approach if necessary, but that went out the window when he saw a creeper touch her. He was so furious; he gave the creeper a hard jab in the kidney. Not trusting the creeper to keep his hand to himself, Cloud maneuvered himself through the crowded train compartment and planted himself in front of her. That might have been the worst and best decision he made.

The close proximity to Tifa was a grueling test of his willpower. He was assailed by desires that he knew would not be appropriate especially of his current situation. All he wanted to do was gather her up in a hug and never let her go. After she had turned her head breaking their eye contact, Cloud closed his eyes as he tried to concentrate on his speech he had to give for this morning. He faltered as a light scent of lavender and vanilla wafted up to his nose, he found himself leaning in closer to Tifa. The train jerked right at that moment, and it was perfect timing as he easily braced himself at his current position. He thanked the gods for the train movements since it gave him a reason to be leaning so close to her.

There were several times during the train ride, he almost gave into temptation. Especially at the time when she was curiously looking at his school bag and she had leaned into him. He happened to open his eyes at the wrong time, and got a good view down her shirt. He quickly averted his eyes, as he blushed. He cleared his throat and she blushed also as she jumped back in surprise.

The whole ride was a bit tortuous for him, but he managed. _Fate must be playing with me _he thought as she got off at his stop. He stayed back on the train to regain his composure and hoping that Tifa would go her way. But she stood there waiting. _Is she waiting for me?_ But he waved the thought away. The train signaled it was closing the door. Fortune was upon him, when he saw Tifa being dragged away by a short blacked hair girl dressed in a school uniform. And so he was able to get off the train right before it departed. He couldn't help but smile when he recognized the girl as Yuffie; she was the same with her unusually high energy.

Cloud made his way to a coffee shop near the station to recover from the train ride ordeal. With a triple shot espresso in hand, he grabbed a seat that was a few tables away from the entrance. Trying to pry his mind away from Tifa he tried to concentrate on the bitterness of the espresso drink saturating his taste buds. Just as he calmed down, he saw Tifa in the corner of his eyes walking out of the restroom of the coffee shop. She had Yuffie in tow, who was probably responsible for the scowl on Tifa's face. He almost spat out the liquid at the sight of her, but managed to contain it as he quickly ducked his head under the table, so she would not spot him.

She was in the same school uniform as Yuffie, but she looked like she had stepped out of a high-end catalog of the Moogle Entertainment magazine. The skirt showed off her long tone legs, and the blouse did nothing but emphasis her assets. He gulped; _this is going to be more difficult than I thought _as he recognized the school emblem on Yuffie's jacket. Tifa with a deeper scowl dragged Yuffie out of the coffee shop towards the same direction he was going. Sighing with relief, he sat back up. W_hy did the room feel so warm all the sudden...it must be the espresso kicking in_ he thought as he rationalized what he was feeling.

Tifa stirred, bringing Cloud back to the present. A strand of hair fell into her face. Cloud looked at her fondly as he lightly brushed the hair out of her face. His hand lightly caressed her cheek. Without thinking, he leaned in and gave her a light kiss on her forehead. "Tifa" he softly spoke. He quietly whispered to her, "I promise you. I will protect you as I have always done. And I will figure out what and why this is happening." Tifa smiled at the sound of her name, bringing a smile to Cloud's face.

Cloud heard something stir behind him. His smile disappeared as he stood up, and said, "Are you just going to stand there Vincent? Or are you going to help me clean this mess up."

A tall young man dressed in the school uniform stepped out from behind the curtains separating the beds in the infirmary. Despite his age he had an aura of ancient mystery surrounding him. One would could not help but be drawn to it. Cloud frowned at Vincent, "I can't believe you are skipping your classes already."

His deep red eyes narrowed as he scolded Cloud, "What I do is of no concern to you. But what you do is. Cloud you have to watch your actions. You have to be careful. You never know if it's the Other Cloud acting through you. I thought you were planning to observe her first. Why did you tell her about the visions so soon?"

"What was I supposed to do? She looked frightened and she needed to know. That wound...I can't believe it crossed over. I don't understand how it could," Cloud replied as he picked up the bloodied blouse and the used supplies. He tossed them in the trash. Vincent grabbed the unused items and placed them back to their rightful place. "Plus, this must mean that it is escalating faster than we thought…" he started but stopped when the infirmary nurse came in.

"What can I do for you boys?" the nurse asked with a smile. She looked slightly annoyed, "If you aren't sick please go on to your class." She glanced at the bed where Tifa was peacefully sleeping in.

"She is having issues with that time of the month," Vincent answered quickly when Cloud remained silent, "We didn't ask her any more detail than that."

The nurse's eyebrows rose with skepticism, but since the girl was sound asleep she let it go. She walked over to the bed, and closed the curtain. Then she sat at her desk and started writing on some paper. She looked at the boys still standing there and she nodded towards the door. Taking the hint, Vincent and Cloud quietly took their leave.

They made their way outside of the building and sat under the window of the infirmary. The infirmary window looked out into a grove of maple trees secluding them from the other parts of the school ground, giving them privacy to chat while listening for any distress sound from Tifa. Cloud did not want to leave Tifa alone, just in case Tifa did experience another vision. Cloud peeked in. The nurse was nowhere in sight. He ran his hands through his hair with frustration as he expressed his worries to Vincent, "I don't know what to do Vincent. Seeing her like this is, and I can't protect her. What if she experiences every battle fought? This Tifa is not prepared to take the wounds. I…we…need to find out why this is happening."

Vincent's expression did not change, but his eyes narrowed at Cloud's unusual concern for Tifa, "We do have to figure out what is causing this crossover before this timeline gets changed anymore. It is definitely disconcerting to see physical wounds cross over. What vision did she exactly see?"

Cloud looked up into the leaves of the maple trees, remembering the vision. His heart still tightened by the lost he had experienced in that battle, it was bad enough to see Tifa wounded like that, but he experienced the death of his best friend, Zack. He shook his head as he tried to block off the memory of his best friend Zack dying in his arms. "She was fighting an insane modified soldier that she should not have challenged in the first place," he said simply, "she was seeking revenge for her father's death." He did not want to tell Vincent all what happened especially with Sephiroth involvement as the antagonist. Cloud was still unsure why Sephiroth was the way he was. "Do you think it was weird how the teachers just called the ambulance for the Sephiroth despite him just having a fever?" He frowned remembering in the chaos that Tifa had initially touched Sephiroth declaring that he had a fever. _Maybe Tifa touching Sephiroth might have triggered the visions. She did say it was her first time._

Vincent shrugged and retorted back, "You should know better that this school treats you and your group that includes Sephiroth like royalty. If anything dire like that happened to any of you guys of course they are going to call an ambulance."

Cloud was slightly taken back with the retort. They sat there in silent. "Look Vincent, I am sorry if I did anything to offend you."

"It is just weird that you have this connection with Tifa and her only." Vincent said "And the fact that it was just a few weeks ago when you just started talking to me and told me these outrageous stories about a different line. Grant it, that you do have information of me that no one knows about, I am still skeptical about it being another timeline. Not only that, it does not please me to know that she is involved and getting hurt in the process."

Cloud sighed, it was tough convincing Vincent his story. But he had awoken up at a hospital and had run out frantically looking for Tifa. Vincent happened to be out that night, and he had ran into Cloud. Without thinking he enlisted Vincent to help him find Tifa. Vincent at that time looked at him like he was a raving madman as he told him about the visions. Cloud had to tell him a bit of Vincent's own history to make him believe that something strange was going on. Vincent and Cloud then spent their free time during the summer looking for Tifa, but she was nowhere to be found. They had checked the bars in the slums, but no one had an idea who Tifa was.

They both sat there silently lost in their own thoughts. Cloud's cell phone rang breaking the silence. Vincent recognized the ringtone as the instrumental version of 'Anthem of the Angels'. Cloud quickly grabbed his phone out of his pocket and checked to see who it was. He silenced the ringer. Vincent saw the name 'Aerith' and he raised an eyebrow at Cloud, "Shouldn't you be answering that?"

Cloud placed the phone back in his pocket. He ignored Vincent's comment. Curious of Cloud's action, Vincent pressed the issue, "Your girlfriend Aerith is going to wonder where you are. And why you are ignoring her calls?"

Cloud picked up a twig and began to break it into tiny pieces as he zoned out still ignoring Vincent's interrogation. "Cloud!?" a faint shout was heard through the grove of the trees. He quickly stood up. The voice was closer and they could distinguish it was female voice by its pitch. Cloud peered into the window that looked into the infirmary, and saw that Tifa was still sleeping. He turned to Vincent who was looking at him curiously, "Vincent, can you please look after her? Send me a text when she awakens." Without a word Cloud ran out of the groves towards the voice with an unusual grace and finesse. Vincent shrugged, and settled in. He took off his blazer which he bunched up for a pillow. He lied down and loosened his tie. He had no quarrel skipping classes.

Cloud ran out of the grove and onto the path towards the voice. He recognized the light brown hair that was tied up in a pink bow swaying in the air as she walked around calling out his name. It was Aerith. She was with Zack who was talking on his phone. _Probably one of his many girlfriends,_ Cloud thought. Aerith turned and saw Cloud running to them. With a big smile she ran up to him and jumped up to hug him. "Cloud!" she exclaimed as she buried her head in his chest. "Where have you been? We didn't see you at homeroom. And the teacher was asking us where you went. As class president you aren't being a good example for your classmates" she added teasingly. He remained silent as he looked to Zack for help. But Zack just rolled his eyes at Aerith's questions. He mouthed 'good luck' as he wandered off to sit at a bench a short distances away from them as he continued talking on his phone. Cloud was still not used to Aerith being his girlfriend. She looked at him pouting. "You have been neglecting me. People are going to start thinking I have been dumped."

Cloud felt awkward as he peeled Aerith off of him. "Aerith," Cloud started. Her eyebrows rose at the tone of his voice.

She wrapped herself around his arms, and said "Come on Cloud, and whatever it was it must have been important, you can tell me later. We have to get to our next class. We also need to make arrangements so we can stop by the hospital to see Seph."

Cloud remained silent as Aerith dragged him towards their next class. He glanced back at Zack who was still talking on the phone with a big smile. "What about Zack?"

Aerith looked behind her at Zack who was still chatting on the phone, with a hint of annoyance, "Forget him. He can do whatever he wants." Cloud let Aerith lead him to their next class.

* * *

Tifa awoke with tears running down her face. She felt a heavy sadness. Wiping the tears away, she tried to shake the feeling but it clung to her. Sluggishly, she noted that there was a new shirt at the end of her bed and she unbuttoned the blazer and put on the blouse. Getting out of bed, she grabbed the blazer and a crumpled piece of paper fell out of the pocket. Curious, she picked it up and opened it. It looked it was worn with eraser marks as if the writer was hesitant to even write down the thoughts. It just had one sentence.

_'A- I wish I could just do what I should have done ages ago-to love you the way you deserved. '_

Her heart sped up. _Did Cloud write this? A…was that an initial or typo? Who was he writing this to?_ She thought to herself. She heard a sound outside of the curtain. Quickly she crumpled it up and stuffed it back inside the jacket. Opening the curtain she recognized the girl from her light brown hair tied up in a pony tail with a cute pink bow. It was Aerith and she was looking through the infirmary cabinets for something. A weird sensation overtook Tifa. The heavy sadness came back in full force. Without thinking Tifa ran to the girl with tears cascading down like waterfalls.

"wWha…!" Aerith exclaimed with surprise at the crying girl who suddenly hugged her out of nowhere. "Ummm…"

Tifa realized what she did and bounced back. All red with embarrassment she could not stop her tears, she snifled, "I am so sorry…I am so sorry. I don't know" Tifa hiccupped, "what came over me. I normally don't randomly attack people with hugs."

Aerith smiled kindly, "That is okay. What is wrong? Is there something bothering you?"

"I don't know why…but for some reason I felt like I had just lost someone dear to me. But I have not lost anyone recently," Tifa answered as she tried to pinpoint where the source of sadness was coming from.

"Oh…maybe it is that time of the month or close to?" asked Aerith understanding the crazy mood swings one gets during the menstruation period.

"Maybe that is it…" Tifa started, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it had to do with the girl standing in front of her.

"You were one of the girls that came late this morning!" Aerith said remembering where she had seen the girl before. She smiled and offered Tifa a box of tissues from the counter, "I am Aerith."

"Tifa. Nice to meet you. Thank you," Tifa responded with a smile as she grabbed a handful of tissue and began to wipe the tears away. Tifa caught a glimpse of herself in the small mirror that hung over the sink. Swollen eyes. Messed bed hair. She felt like a slob next to Aerith. "OMG! I look so awful right now." She splashed some water on her face and in hopes the cold water would help with her swollen eyes.

"You look fine, just a bit of swollen eyes and they should settle down soon," Aerith assured her, "Just splash some cold water on them."

"And thank you by the way for letting us go in with you guys this morning." Tifa said as she wiped her face with some paper towel. She grimaced as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Aerith laughed. Tifa noticed it was a fun genuine contagious laugh making her smile and the sadness she felt earlier dissipated, she said, "You look fine! I can understand it being the first day of school. I was late myself because I had to basically dragging my friend Zack out of bed this morning. He is such a pain in the ass."

Remembering the vision of Zack; Tifa changed the subject. Tifa asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Oh!" Aerith said remembering why she was there, "I was getting these awful headaches so I was looking for some pain killers."

"I will help you look for them," Tifa said. It took about a second before Tifa found it hidden in a drawer and she gave her the bottle.

Aerith smiled, "Thank you!" She popped two tablets in her mouth and swallowed it. Noticing the blazer in Tifa's hand, she said teasingly, "Is that from your boyfriend's coat?"

Tifa blushed, "No…I don't know who it is actually."

Aerith teased her some more, "No guy would give their blazer to just anyone. Let's see."

She handed the blazer to her and a young handsome man with black hair that was tied back walked in. He walked in with grace and silent. With a white collared shirt and blue pants the only tell that he was a student was his school tie which was hanging loosely around his neck. The only thing missing was his school blazer. Tifa couldn't tell if it was his aura or the way he held himself that made him look mature and noble. Or maybe it was his eyes. They were an intriguing deep auburn red color. Tifa felt Aerith nudge her. She leaned in closer and teased Tifa, "He must be the owner of that blazer. Careful, if I didn't know any better I would have thought you lived in a nunnery from the way you are staring at him. You are eyeing him like…"

Tifa shushed her as the young man approached them slowly. Aerith not wanting to interrupt anything turned to Tifa, and whispered quickly, "It was nice meeting you! You look fine. I hope whatever you were crying about will be resolved. I hope to see you around."

He was staring at her. _Omg…I look like a mess, _Tifa thought as she unconsciously fidgeted with her hair. "Excuse me ladies, is everything okay?" he asked with concern as he registered Tifa's swollen eyes.

Aerith responded for Tifa, "Everything is fine. You must be the owner of this jacket." She handed him the blazer and silently whispered to him with vehement, "Don't make beautiful girls cry. I hope you resolve whatever fight you guys had." Aerith scooted out of the infirmary and prayed that they would make up.

Vincent watched Aerith hurry out of the infirmary. "Hmmm…interesting" he said to himself then turned to Tifa, "How are you doing Tifa?"

"Do I know…" Tifa started, but then remembered. He was one of the guys she met at a group date that her friend Yuffie had dragged her too. They had hit it off, and in fact she was planning to meet up with him some other time but she had gone away for the summer. Embarrassed, she apologized, "Oh! I am so sorry I didn't call you back." _Damn it! What was his name? I know it was something uncommon. Ethan? No…he doesn't look like one._ Tifa tried to remember his name.

"Its Vincent by the way," he answered figuring out that she had forgotten his name, "I figured you were just super bored with our conversation and avoiding my messages."

"No, that was not it!" She started as she felt herself blush, remembering they had gone to a park and talked about everything until the blush of dawn. She recalled reeling from the event. It was quite exciting and unbelievable that not only was he hot, he was also interesting and intelligent. When she left, she was pretty pissed off at her dad for making her go with him to see her 'uncle' at the last minute. "My dad made me go with him at the last minute to some rural area near Nibelheim. There are no cellphone services out there. I am so sorry."

He smiled understandingly, "Well then can we possible continue our conversation maybe over some food?"

"Umm," Tifa bit her lip before she answered, "Sure, I guess it."

"Great, let me show you where your classroom" Vincent said as he gave her an irresistible smile.

* * *

Tifa walked into her classroom with Vincent few minutes before the bell. "Tifa!" Yuffie exclaimed when she saw Tifa.

Vincent nodded at Yuffie and said to Tifa before he walked out of the classroom, "I will see you later. Good luck in your last class."

Tifa was in a daze. She noticed that walking down the hallway, a lot of looks where made towards them, but most were directed at Vincent. It was understandable; there was something about him that drew people's attention. There were so many things running through her mind; Cloud, the vision, her breakdown with Aerith, Vincent, and that she had missed most of her classes the first day. All she wanted to do was find Cloud and get him to talk about the visions. Or maybe go home, crawl in bed, and hope that this was all a dream. "Tee...Earth to Tifa." Yuffie said as she watched her friend sit at a desk behind her zombielike. "Who was that cutie that just walked you in? I thought it would have been Cloud?"

Tifa snapped out of her daze as the bell rang signaling the start of the class. "Oh…that was Vincent."

"Ooo, interesting," Yuffie said as she contemplated something. "…I got some juicy gossip for you Tifa," Yuffie squealed with delight as she talked quickly, "So apparently the four we ran into are all part of the student council. That guy who collapsed-that was Sephiroth, Zack is the secretary, and Aerith is the treasury. Cloud is the class president. They all grew up together and are quite an exclusive group. They are considered the 'Kings and Queen of Highwind.' Everyone has been talking about them none stop since I got back from the infirmary this morning. Oh! How are you doing? What the heck caused that wound anyways? Sorry that I was not able to stop by during lunch. They had an assembly for our school during lunch so I was not able to get away. But I am glad you got a clean blouse! Your Cloud looked so adorable doing his speech. He has such dreamy intense blue eyes." Yuffie sighed, she shook her head and started again, "and apparently Aerith and Cloud are an…" Their teacher walked in and began to roll call so Tifa mouthed to Yuffie 'Talk Later.' Yuffie pouted but faced forward when her name was called.

Everyone in the class was called except for Tifa. Tifa raised her hand when the teacher asked if he missed anyone. The teacher looked down on his list squinting to see if he had her on his list, "I am sorry you must be in the wrong classroom. If you don't know which class you are in please go to the main office building to get your schedule you should have received at your homeroom classroom this morning."

Tifa blushed and lied, "Sorry, I missed my homeroom class. I was having really bad cramps and went to the infirmary."

The teacher coughed, "That's fine, and it is the first day of class. I would suggest that you go to the main office."

Yuffie gave her a confused look. Tifa shrugged and gave Yuffie a quick wave goodbye/ She headed to the main office.

Tifa sighed with relief when she finally made it to her classroom door; she was quite frustrated on how long it took the secretary to find her schedule. _At this rate I should just go home_ she thought. Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down, she decided against leaving. She opened the door and entered into the classroom. The teacher paused and every eye in the room turned to her. She blinked. Standing before her was her 'uncle' Barret. He had somehow stuffed himself and his huge arms into a dress shirt and a tie. "Tifa Lockhart," he said as he recognized the girl walking late in his classroom. "I am glad you finally decided to join us. Please don't make it a habit. You will be sitting by Cloud," he pointed to the back, "he is second row from the back."

Tifa was taken aback with his unusual manner of speech and mannerism. _Am I still dreaming?_ It was unfathomable for her to see her Uncle in his current attire and let alone be teaching. "Cloud…?" she looked to the back, and saw the blond hair. Her thoughts about her Uncle's unusual behavior flew out the window when she made eye contact with the_ dreamy intense blue eyes,_ Yuffie voice description echoed in her thoughts. Heart beating fast, she murmured her apologizes and made her way to the back. She quickly sat down next to Cloud as he mumbled, "Today is full of surprises. Fate must be messing with me."


	5. Chapter 5

Author Comments:

Sorry it took forever to get this chapter out. Work has been keeping me busy and playing FFXIV.

Sorry for the roughness of this chapter. I just wanted to get a chapter out.

Enjoy! Thank you for your views and reviews!

* * *

Chapter 5:

Barret continued his lecture as soon as he saw Tifa take her seat. "If you would please turn to page 240..."

Tifa leaned in, and whispered to Cloud, "Sorry can I look at your textbook. I don't have one." Without a word, Cloud slid his textbook between them, and he leaned as far away as he possibly could from her as he kept his eyes towards the front. He continued to scribble notes of the lecture. It was an obvious attempt to put distance between them. Tifa couldn't even lean over to whisper her thanks. Tifa frowned slightly. _Did I do something wrong? Why is he leaning so far away from me?_ Self conscious, Tifa tried to think what could cause him to lean away. She turned her head away from him as she stealthily smelled herself. _I don't smell bad...at least I can't smell it_. She glanced back over to Cloud and caught a glimpse of a smile. He quickly covered up it with his hand. He continued to take notes. She sat up straighter as she tried to stop the flush that was rising up to her cheeks. _Did he see me smell myself?_ _Omg he did..._her lip quivered slightly as she fervently wished that a hole would just appear and swallow her up. To cover up her embarrassment, she attempted to focus on the lecture.

As Tifa listened to her Uncle lecture about the history and evolution of the Shinra Corporation; she became aware that most of the people in the classroom were scribbling away. Crossing her arms, she slid down lower into her chair. _I should have gone home. That would have been the best choice. _The past three years of high school, her classes typically reviewed last semester's curriculum and nothing new was introduced. She had assumed this year was like that rest and did not bring her book bag. Lost on the subject, she scanned the room and saw Vincent in front of her. He had his head cradled in his arm. _Wow...he has guts sleeping in this class. I wonder if he is like this in his other classes._

In the corner of her eye, she saw something fly in the air in her direction. She tried to see what it was, but it disappeared before she could see where it landed. She turned to the direction the object had come from and saw Zack who was leaning back in his chair looking up in the ceiling. He turned his head to look at her as if he sensed her stare. He gave her a devilishly handsome smile and a playful wink. _Definitely a playboy…I better stay away from him._ Aerith nudged Zack sensing that he was not paying attention. He leaned in and whispered something to her. Aerith rolled her eyes, and shook her head at him as she returned her attention to the lecture and continued taking notes.

Tifa tried again to follow her Uncle's lecture. She leaned in slightly to scan the textbook to figure out what the heck he was talking about. She peeked over Cloud's notes they were surprisingly neat and organized. _Maybe...he will let me borrow his notes to copy later._ Then she remembered the awkward distance he placed between them when she had asked to share his textbook. _Maybe not…I wonder if what happened earlier this morning was a dream. I wonder if we will have time to talk after this class._ She glanced at the clock and grimaced. _That is if I survive this class. It has only been 15 minutes?! What time does this class end?_ Tifa took out her schedule and saw that it was 430. _20 more minutes! _She was never good at politics. Stifling a yawn, she placed her chin on her hand and faced the window. The clouds drifted across the sky, and her mind began drift along with it.

Cloud was fuming silently as he crumpled up the note that Zack had stealthily tossed at him. He noticed Zack giving Tifa his charming smile, which he gave girls he was interested in. Cloud tightened his fist around the note. All he wanted to do was throw it back in Zack's face to wipe off that stupid smile. He was on edge as it was; he didn't want to have to deal with Zack's attempt to conquest Tifa. When she had sat down and leaned in to whisper, the scent of lavender and vanilla invoked turmoil of emotions in him. Vincent's comment resurfaced: about his feelings for Tifa. Maybe these feelings were not his own, but the other Cloud's emitting through. It was disconcerting and cumbersome especially since it caused him to be on edge. _Do I like her?_ _I can't. Before these visions I knew nothing of her. _He slid the book to share with her and increased the distance as much as possible without being awkward. Hoping the distance would help him calm down. In the corner of his eyes, he saw her frown. _But there is something about her. _A smile broke free before he could stop it. He quickly covered his smile with his hand as he scribbled random sentences the teacher was lecturing about. He had never been this attentive in taking class notes before. Praying silently he hoped she didn't catch that most of his notes were not coherent.

Zack turned around to face him as the teacher began to write something on the board, and mimed a prayer to Cloud as he pouted. _Thank goodness that she is turned away and doesn't see this ridiculous interaction. Better yet, I hope she sees it, so she can know to stay far from him. _Cloud gave him a stern look and mouthed 'No'. Zack clasped his hand together adding gusto to his plea. Cloud coughed when he saw the teacher turn around. He kept his eyes to the front as he pretended to take notes. The teacher crossed his arms, which unintentionally made his arm look even bigger and much more menacing. "Mr. Fair, I hope you are praying for a better attention span." Barret sarcastically said, "Do you care to tell me who you were praying to?"

"Sorry sir," Zack apologized as he turned around to face the front, "I will try to keep my praying outside of class. I just had a sudden urge to pray to meet the love of my life before this class ends." A couple of girls giggled as they flirtatiously smiled at Zack. Tifa turned her head back to the classroom and saw Aerith turn a light shade of pink.

"If you would Mr. Fair, your actions may be disruptive others to those who actually care to learn." Zack nodded and offered an apologetic smile. Vincent opened his eyes briefly at the conversation. Uninterested, he resumed his sleep as soon as the lecture resumed. Barret continued to write on the board while he started up his lecture again, "And so Shinra corporation..."

Tifa briefly glanced at Zack, and saw Aerith laughing silently at him. Tifa smiled at their interaction. I_ wonder if they are going out._ She tried again to pay attention, but zoned out. Try as she might she didn't know much of the hierarchy of politics let alone their influences from Shinra. It was information overload. She looked at the clock and saw it slowly ticking by. Her thoughts floated back to Cloud and the visions. _What is causing these dreams or visions of the other timeline_ she wondered, _I hope they don't interfere with my classes to much. It has been a crazy unreal day, I don't think I can handle the visions and trying to survive my last year of high school._

She looked around the room and saw Vincent resumed his sleeping position. _He looks so cute. _She smiled fondly at him. He looked so peaceful. Barret stopped his lecture as if he sensed someone was not paying attention and he immediately walked over to Vincent's desk. Everyone jumped in surprise when slammed his hands on Vincent's desk. , With an elevated voice he called out Vincent's name, "Mr. Valentine!" Vincent slowly raised his head not deterred by the loud slam, and yawned lazily as he sleepily looked at the teacher. "I presume that since you are taking a nap, you already know everything about the political influences from the Shinra Corporation. Please do endear me and explain how Shinra and the Lifestream are related?" Barret asked as he crossed his arms, if it was anyone else they would have been intimidated by his arms.

Vincent was an exception, he leaned back on his chair and stretched as he stifled another yawn, "I don't know." Placing his head on his right hand, he sleepily stared at the teacher with no fear or awareness of the situation. Zack gave Vincent a phantom clap, while everyone else including Tifa gaped at Vincent shocked at the blatant answer.

"Well Mr. Valentine, I see." He returned to the front of the classroom, and announced, "Please thank Mr. Valentine and Mr. Fair as they have demonstrated to me that this lecture has not been riveting enough. I will let you guys do your own research about the history of Shinra, its political influences, and the Lifestream. I expect an essay of no less than 10 pages by next Friday. And a lovely quiz to test your knowledge on today's lecture for the next class on Wednesday."

The whole class groaned. _I hope none of my other classes are as ridiculous as this. Even if he is my teacher...my uncle is definitely not going to go easy on me._ Tifa thought as she sat up straighter. Aerith raised her hand, "Mr. W? There some people here who are not privilege enough to have a computer at home. And the school library will not be open until next week."

"Good point Ms. Gainsborough." Barret said. He paused to think before he said, "Everyone who has a computer raise your hand."

About a third of people raised their hands. Barret looked at the time and it was ten minutes till 430, "Perfect timing, we have enough time to form groups. It will be in groups of threes please have at least one person who have their hand raised in your group. One section will be a history of Shinra, the second section will be of the political influence, and the third section will be the Lifestream and Shinra. Please pick one member of your group to write one section. You will be graded individually and also as a group. Once you have picked who will write what section, please give me a list with the names and the section. You may go after you hand me the list."

The noise volume increased in the classroom as the students began to assemble their groups. Zack and Aerith were immediately surrounded by other students asking them to be part of their group. Aerith apologized, "Sorry guys, we already decided that it will be Zack, Seph, and I. Thank you for your offer though."

Zack pouted at Aerith, but she ignored it and scolded him, "You owe me this one. I had not planned to do a 10 page essay for the next two weeks. Now thanks to you I have to."

Zack looked over at Cloud and Tifa expectantly, "But..."

Aerith saw the direction of his glance, "Cloud will be much better off without you in his group. If you've been paying attention we wouldn't be in this miss." Aerith smiled at Cloud and apologized, "Cloud, I hope you don't mind. We can still work on it together in our groups."

Tifa sat there silently as she watched Cloud jump at the sound of his name. He glanced up at Aerith and gave her a soft smile as he teased her, "Are you sure you are up to the task of making sure he does his part? I would have washed my hands of him long ago if I could. I think you should do the same." Tifa felt a weird sensation that caused her to feel slightly irked as she watched Cloud's interaction with Aerith. _Get a hold of yourself, _Tifa chided herself.

Zack playfully wrapped his arms around Aerith, who stiffened at his touch, but made no move to push him away, "Aerith, oh Aerith of mine. You would never abandon me like Cloud would you?" He pouted as he playfully tugged on the ribbon in her hair.

Tifa was surprised as Cloud stood up suddenly and pushed Zack away from Aerith rescuing her from his grasp, "Zack, can you please not do that in front of me and especially to Aerith? On a different note, whose group am I going to get stuck in?"

Several girls perked up at his remark. A few of the girls started to prowl like hyenas towards Cloud. Aerith noticed their approach and quickly responded, "Cloud you will be in Tifa and Vincent's group. Tifa is new and you would be a good person for her to get to know. And Vincent is definitely a great asset." If looks could kill, Tifa knew she would have died on the spot as the girls shot her envious looks at her immediate acceptance to the group. Tifa opened her mouth, but closed it as she saw Aerith's pleading look. She shot her a smile, "That would be great! Thank you Aerith."

Cloud glanced at the two girls slightly taken aback. _Do they know each other? As far as I know Aerith rarely talks to other girls. This might be a good thing for her; she can finally have someone to talk to about girl stuff._ _A good thing for them, but possibly a dilemma for me.._.One of the girls in the class bravely voiced, "But Vincent hasn't even agreed to be in your group, Cloud."

Everyone was surprised when Vincent spoke, "I don't mind being in the group." The girl who spoke gave Tifa a hateful look as she went to look for a group. Tifa could not help, but feel ostracized from the rest of the class. _Oh boy, I hope this doesn't turn into something nasty later._

"Well it is settled then!" Aerith smiled as she grabbed two sheets of paper and took Cloud's seat next to Tifa. She began to write everyone's names. "So who wants to do what?"

"Lifestream…" Both Cloud and Tifa said simultaneously. Aerith smiled, "I think this will go to Tifa. Cloud you can take..."

"Please put me down for the history," Vincent said, "Politics are not my forte."

Cloud crossed his arms, as he grimaced. He hated anything related to politics, but he didn't want to sit there wasting time arguing who got what. "Fine, politics it is" he said, "When should we meet for this?"

Zack looked at his watch, "Lets decide on Wednesday. We are late on meeting Seph."

Aerith looked at Tifa apologetically, "Is that fine with you?"

Tifa smiled at Aerith, "Sure, at least this way I have time to study for the quiz."

Aerith gave her a big smile before she went up to the front of the class to turn in the sheets. Zack gathered Aerith's things and stuffed them inside her school bag. He grabbed his own and headed towards the door, "Come on Cloud, there are limited visitations hours."

Cloud whispered to Tifa as he gathered his stuff. "We will talk soon about the visions." He quickly followed Zack who was pushing Aerith out the door.

_So it wasn't a dream after all..._Tifa thought as she watched them exit the room. "Can I walk home with you?" Vincent asked jolting Tifa from her daze, "Tifa?"

"I have to wait for my friend," Tifa said apologetically, "I don't know when she is supposed to get off."

"If you don't mind, I would like to wait with you." Vincent had a small smile of amusement as he confirmed with Tifa, "If that is fine with you."

Tifa shrugged, "Are you sure? It might be awhile."

"I don't mind," Vincent assured as he followed her out the door; blocking the malicious looks that were directed at Tifa. "Let me show you around the school while we wait."

Tifa closed her phone after she sent a text to Yuffie asking her what time she would be out. Vincent and Tifa waited in silence as they ate their popsicles. "Thank you," said Tifa gratefully as she savored the sweet cold sensation of the popsicle. It was nice to have something cool to snack on as they waited in the late afternoon heat. After he had given her a brief tour of the school grounds, they had stopped at the school store where Vincent had bought popsicles for her and him.

They found a bench in the shade near the school gate to wait for her friend. She glanced over at Vincent who was absently eating his popsicle, and blushed. His black hair was tied back, in a short tail, showing off his aristocratic features. _I wonder what he is thinking. He has been such a gentleman. And quiet. _She normally wasn't into guys with longer hair, but there was something about him that intrigued her. _I wonder if he is friends with Cloud and that group…He seemed like he would fit right in. _He caught her glance, and gave her a smile. "So," Tifa started, but stopped when she heard her phone chimed alerting her of an incoming message. _It's probably from Yuffie_. "Sorry." She fumbled for her phone to see the message. 'Sorry T- I won't be able to go home with you. I got asked to do an extra shift after school. Talk later! Yuffie.'

She made a face, "Well, sorry that was a waste of time. It looks like my friend is going to work first."

Vincent shrugged, "I don't mind really. I enjoy your company."

Tifa blushed, "Well, I supposed we can make our way home, I rather not spend the rest of my afternoon here. I take the train home." Tifa left out the part that she lived in the slums. She felt slightly embarrassed of her living conditions.

"No worries, I am headed in that direction also," Vincent said as he walked with her towards the station. They walked in silence, giving Tifa time to ponder why Vincent was so attentive to her.

As Vincent and she walked down the station, Tifa could not help but think about the day and Cloud. As if her thought's conjured him. He appeared from afar leaning against a fenrir waiting at the train station. _Why is he here? He has a fenrir._ Tifa felt her stomach do flips and her knees weakened at the sight of Cloud. Tifa tried her best to be nonchalant as they approached Cloud. _I hope it's not that obvious that I am basically drooling right now._ Tifa prayed silently, _please let me not act like a stupid school girl. Why do I find it that I get so flustered when he is around? _She glanced at Vincent, _its different feeling when I am with Vincent. _Tifa recalled the train trip from this morning. _That explains the diesel smell, but I wonder why he was on the train… _Vincent's phone chimed breaking Tifa's line of thought. "Excuse me," Excusing himself as he picked up his phone and walked a few distance away leaving Tifa with Cloud. Tifa looked quizzically at Vincent; it was the first time she had seen a frown on his usually stoic face. She couldn't help, but have a weird sensation that she knew what was the cause of his was frowning.

She turned her attention to Cloud who was casually watching her with his arms crossed. "That was a quick visit to the hospital." Tifa said, "How is he?"

Cloud shrugged, "He seems fine. We didn't get much time to spend with him before we were kicked out due to Zack's antics." Changing the subject he nodded towards Vincent, "Looks like you and Vincent are getting along well."

Tifa caught the hint of dissatisfaction from his voice, it felt ridiculous having to explain why, but she felt like she had to keep the air clear of misunderstanding, "Vincent was kind enough to show me around the school and was just walking in the same direction as me."

An awkward silence pursued. Clearing his throat Cloud asked her, "Would you have time this Sunday to talk?"

"Sorry she made plans to go out with me that day," Vincent causally said as he walked backed to them. Tifa tried to suppress her guilt. _Why am I feeling so guilty? It is not like I need to tell Cloud everything. He is not even my boyfriend. I hardly even know him!_

Cloud's eyebrows rose briefly, but kept his face neutral, "Well maybe whenever we meet up for the project we can talk then? I was actually here to get Vincent. There was something that came up."

"Sure…we can talk then, bye then," Tifa turned to Vincent, "See you around. Thank you again for today." Before Vincent could say anything Tifa rushed to the station trying hard not to look back at the guys. Before she was out of hearing range, she caught a name that sent shivers down her spine, "Hojo…" Cloud said in a low voice to Vincent.

* * *

It was Saturday morning, and Tifa found herself at a very posh apartment high riser in the 'rich' part of Midgar. From here she had an amazing view of Midgar in it's entirety. She waited nervously, _I hope this is the correct apartment._ She could hear the doorbell ring throughout the apartment. She checked the time on her phone. _Am I the first one here? _She leaned back on the railing as she recalled her first week of high school. It was outrageous of all the homework she had missed just on the first day of class. It was strange that all of her classes did not have any of her classmates from her original high school. She went back to the main office during lunch the following day to confirm that she was given the right schedule. The secretary assured her it was, but will look into it since she was originally from the public school. So she was stuck with the schedule. Monday, Wednesday and Friday-Science, Math, and Government. Tuesday and Thursday-Home Economics, Literature, and Gym. And for some reason Aerith had attached herself to Tifa in all of the classes they had together. Tifa noticed that the girls and guys gave Aerith, Cloud, and Zack a wide berth. Not because they did not like them, but it was out of admiration. Unfortunately for Tifa, it meant that the only person she had made girl friends so far was with Aerith. The class she did not have Aerith in was her literature class, but even then she was not alone. She had to deal with Zack who was quite distracting. Quite animated and full of energy. And Cloud was not talking much to her since her encounter after the first day.

Sighing, she did not have a chance to see or chat with Yuffie since the first day of class. She found out after the first day that Yuffie had taken up a part-time job. Not only that her former classmates had a different lunch schedule and their classes started a bit earlier than Yuffie's classes. Tifa frowned; she will have to make time to catch up with Yuffie.

Tifa reached to hit the door bell again. As she did the door opened. Standing before her was Cloud with bed hair and shirtless with just a dark gray pajama pants on. He was rubbing his eyes, as he leaned against the door. Tifa could see that he was all lean muscle. Tifa could not stop her eyes from slowly traveling down as she stared at him. "Tifa?" Cloud said surprised at the appearance of Tifa at his door in a cute white summer dress with her school bag on the ground.

She gasped realizing what she was doing, and blushed furiously as she stuttered, "I…am sorry. I thought we were supposed to meet at 10 today."

She attempted to turn around, but she tripped over her book bag. She let out a surprised yelp as she felt herself falling. Cloud reached to catch her, and she tried to catch her balance as she twisted around. Her maneuver caused Cloud to loss his balance causing both of them to crash onto the ground in a toppled mess.

**To be continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

_"Please wake up, please…" pleaded a familiar voice. Tifa tried to say something but she could not. Her whole body felt so heavy and bond. Nothing she did freed her. _

_"I don't understand why she isn't waking up," a young woman's voice said, "We healed all of the wounds." Tifa recognized the woman's voice as Yuffie's._

_"Her body is freezing cold! Get me a blanket!" yelled out the same familiar voice in a panic. Warm drops fell onto her face. "Please Tifa, please wake up." he whispered in desperation._

_'He is crying…' Tifa thought, and tried to speak, 'Don't cry…I am right here.' No sounds came out. _

_"Tifa… please wake up! Oh god, her pulse. I can't feel it! Her heart has stop beating! Bring me an elixir! Please wake up! Stay with me…" The voice cried out and faded as Tifa she float away from her leaden body._

_Warmth enveloped her as she continued in the darkness. A woman's voice began talking. It rang through the darkness. 'Aerith?' Thought Tifa,'it sounds like her'. She focused on what she was saying._

_"Zack, try to hold him back. We can't let him get to her!" the woman shouted._

_"Shit" a man's voice yelled, "Shit shit! There is a tear! Get her out of here!"_

_"She is slipping! I can't ..."_

"Cloud? Are you okay?" asked Aerith as she ran to the front door, "I heard something crash…" she trailed off when she saw Cloud. Shirtless and on his knees; cradling an unconscious Tifa in his arms. Tifa at the moment opened her eyes. She stared up at Cloud and blinked. _Why...how the hell did I end up in his arms?_ Cloud let out a sigh of relief as he felt the warmth return back to Tifa.

"Thank goodness," Cloud said in a low voice, "You scared me there...you passed out after you fell on top of me."

"Tifa?! Are you okay?" exclaimed Aerith when she saw blood trickling down from Tifa's nose. Unaware of her nosebleed, Tifa flushed when she noticed Aerith's attire-she was in a men's dress shirt with her hair all mussed was no brainer on the owner of the dress shirt. "Tilt her head back!" ordered Aerith as she rushed back into the apartment. Cloud could see Tifa's mind running with assumptions when she noticed Aerith's attiire. _How am I going to explain this_, he thought as he racked his mind to explain the situation. Aerith quickly came back with a towel and placed it on Tifa's nose to stop the bleeding. Tifa looked at her in daze.

A deeper colored blush crept up as Tifa realized that Cloud was still holding her tightly. The warmth from his skin against her skin sent waves of sensations throughout her body that she did not dare to pursue the emotions it was evoking. She scrambled back onto her feet with the help of Cloud. _Omg…Aerith and Cloud? I thought for sure she was going out with Zack. All the time I was with her…she never mentioned going out with Cloud. Wait…why would I care...it is not like I was interested in him. Was I? This is so embarrassing, and I can't believe this is happening to me. Can this situation get any more awkward... _Tifa could not stop her thoughts as a slew of emotions coursed through her. _Do I like_...She quelled the last emotion that was surfacing from Cloud's nearness. "I didn't know…sorry I didn't mean to interrupt..." Tifa stammered as she moved away from Cloud. Due to her haste she forgot about her book bag, and she went tumbling. Tifa withheld a groan as she ended up back into the very arms she was avoiding.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked. His blue eyes filled with concern searched her face. Tifa's heart skipped a beat. _His eyes are so mesmerizing. There is something about him that draws me in. His body is so...STOP RIGHT THERE!_ _Do not finish that thought_, Tifa ordered herself. Tifa nodded at Cloud as she quickly averted her eyes.

_She looks fine, but a bit jumpy_, Cloud thought withdrawing his arms from her. "Woah!" he exclaimed seeing her back into book bag again. He placed his arms back around Tifa to steady her and guided her away from her bag. Aerith tried to suppress her laughter at Tifa's emotions. They were filtering through quickly, and were easy to read.

"I am so sorry…" Tifa mumbled as she shivered. _Why the hell do I feel so cold, why am I always waking up in his arms when I am around him? He has a freaking girlfriend! A girlfriend who is beautiful and smart. Who is in a league way beyond me. I can't compete with that...wait what? _Tifa scrunched her nose at her last thought. "I am normally not that clumsy. I didn't know about you two. I kind of assumed that... I didn't mean to distrub...you guys...I thought it was 10 we were supposed to meet," Tifa rattled nervously. _Please, please let me leave before I dig myself in a bigger whole._

"What the hell is going on here?" shouted an angry voice. The three turned towards the voice and saw Zack. His eyes narrowed with anger. His fist clenched. "What the hell Aerith?! Cloud you fucking scum!"

Everything happened at once. Cloud shoved Tifa behind him as Zack ran at him to throw a punch. Before Zack could get within reach of Cloud, Aerith had tackled him sending both of them into the railings. Zack instinctively wrapped his arms around Aerith protecting her from the majority of the impact.

Aerith didn't wait for Zack to catch his breath before she stood up and started yelling at him with eyes blazing, "Don't you dare call Cloud that!"

"What the hell Aerith?" Zack said as he rubbed his back where he landed, "aren't you moving a bit fast to be staying over some guy's place?"

"Some guy?" Aerith smacked Zack on the head, "Look who is talking! Who was the one calling me dead in the morning to help him get home from a random girls apartment!"

Zack rubbed his head, ignoring Aerith's last comment, and scolded her, "You should not be staying at any guys house at this age."

"You have no right to tell me what I can and can not do." Aerith spat out, "You should look at your own action before you lecture me!"

"Aerith Gainsborough…as your childhood friend, I am telling you. That you are moving way too fast," Zack argued, "I just want to protect you from getting hurt."

"Zack Fair...you are not acting like a friend, but more like a jealous boyfriend," retorted Aerith, "You are not my boyfriend. You idiotic and selfishly stupid jerk!"

Cloud sighed and whispered in Tifa's ear, "This is going to be awhile. Let's leave them be so they can sort this out." Tifa let him guide her into his apartment and into his living room. Tifa was confused; she didn't understand why Zack would care what Aerith does with her boyfriend. Cloud sat her down on the couch. He grabbed a blanket that was sprawled on the couch and wrapped it around her.

"What is going on?" Tifa asked through her shivers, "Zack…Aerith?."

Cloud laughed, "Zack is…he doesn't think it through when it comes to his childhood friend. And well I think Aerith has reached her limit to Zack's idiotic antics. Let me see your nose." He inspected her nose. The bleeding had stopped. He took the towel from her hand and made his way to the kitchen, "It looks like it stopped. Let me get you something warm to drink." Cloud quickly went into the kitchen. He was soon back with a mug of hot chocolate. He carefully handed it to Tifa.

"Hold on, I better get those two in before my neighbors start complaining," Cloud commented. Tifa could hear murmurs, and a few scuffles. Cloud herded the two came inside. Cloud was rubbing his chin and he rolled his eyes, when he saw Tifa looking at him. She gave him a shy smile, before she looked away. Zack had his arms crossed and was shooting daggers at him. Aerith was red in the face and fuming. He quickly led them into a room where they could talk. After a several minutes, Cloud came out rubbing his arm as if it hurt. "I hope this gets resolved... the sooner the better. So I can finally have peace and quiet."

Exhausted, Cloud plopped down next to Tifa. The mug he had given her was on the coffee table, "How was the hot chocolate?" he asked as he glanced at her. She was huddled in his blanket with her eyes closed. Her lips were blue and her skin was encased in a thin layer of ice. "Tifa!" he exclaimed in a panic.

* * *

**4 months ago...**

Irked, Zack slammed his front door. He made his way to Cloud's apartment on foot. He was vacillating between wanting to find Aerith and demand what the hell was going on or punching Cloud. Cloud had been acting weird lately and was more withdrawn than normal. Aerith was avoiding him like a plague. Not only that he had received a message out of nowhere from a classmate that involved the two. Maybe that was their reason for their weird behavior.

On his way to Cloud's apartment, he saw the familiar pink ribbon amongst the crowd. He smiled at the sight of her. His smile faded away when he saw her wrap her arms around a blond haired guy. _Cloud? Cloud and Aerith? So it is true_. His best friend was smiling fondly at Aerith who was giggling up a storm. Zack sat down on a bench to collect his thoughts. He reached into his school blazer pocket and pulled out a folded note. He stared at the note in his hand; he didn't remember when he wrote it. It definitely was his handwriting. But he could not understand why he would write something like this.

_'A- I wish I could just do what I should have done ages ago-to love you the way you deserved. I promise to never hurt you. I love you. Z'_

He ripped it in half and crumpled each piece into a ball. He absently tossed them in the air. When he first saw the note, he thought it was a joke that Cloud was playing on him. He never could understand what possessed him to write it. _Aerith is my childhood friend. Period. But what was is up with this note? What was I thinking? _He thought back to the years with Aerith. _She never showed interest in guys or even dating! There was that one guy Vincent at the beginning of the year, but that was pure curiosity since the guy was silence as hell. Heck I was curious myself. _Zack mussed his head in frustration, he was getting nowhere with his thoughts. Why was he so irked? He frowned-did he not approve of his best friend being Aerith's boyfriend?

"Zack?" spoke an all too familiar voice, "What are you doing here?"

He grabbed the paper balls and shoved them into his blazer jacket. He forced a smile as he looked up to the last person he wanted to see at that moment.

"Aerith? Hey there beautiful," Zack flirted, "What a pleasure to run into an angel so late in the afternoon."

Aerith stuck her tongue at him, "You know your honey words won't work on me." She reached up and started to play with the pink ribbon in her hair. He smiled, he had gotten the ribbon for sixteen. Ever since then she always wore it. _I missed her, _thought Zack, _I forgot how nice to have her around. _He watched her twirl the ribbon around her fingers. Aerith explained, "I was just out for dinner with Cloud, Seph and Dr. Hojo. I stepped out to first to let them discuss something in private. Scoot over."

"Dr. Hojo?" Zack questioned as he moved over for Aerith, "I thought he was out of Cloud's life? I was actually wondering what you have been up in. I feel like I have not seen you since my birthday. You missed out on a great show last night; I had to eat all of the chocolate popcorn by myself."

"Sorry…stuff came up," Aerith said ambiguously. _You mean you were with Cloud and avoiding me,_ Zack begrudgingly thought. Zack cocked his head, surprised by the thought. _Am I jealous of Cloud? No way...Aerith getting a boyfriend was definitely a surprise._ _Maybe it was hearing it from an acquaintance and not from them was the cause of the irritation, _he rationalized. Shaking the thought he returned his attention to what Aerith was saying. Aerith asked, "Why are you out here by yourself? Typically you have a girl or multiple girls hanging around you. What happened to that girl a few weeks ago? She was cute and seemed like the perfect girl for you."

"Today I wanted some alone time," explained Zack, "She didn't work out. She was waayyy too clingy. Have you ever heard of sleeping writing? Kind of like sleepwalking...but instead writing in your sleep?"

Aerith's looked at him skeptically as she tried to hold in her giggle, "Sleep writing? No...maybe for a scholar... why?"

"Just wondering," Zack shrugged, "I was talking to a friend of mine and he had written something he would not usually think. In fact, it was such an absurd note." He stretched his arms out over the bench.

"Hmmm," Aerith said as she relaxed, "Maybe your friend is so out of touch with their feelings, which it's coming out through their sleep writing. And writing is their unconscious part trying to communicate." Zack let her snuggle closer, not thinking much about it. It was what Aerith always did since they were kids.

"I don't think so...the note was the complete opposite of the person note in real life. Completely crazy...Aerith, I am sorry about that day. I wanted to…" Zack started, but trailed off, when he saw Cloud, Sephiroth, and their father walking towards them.

Aerith looked at the direction of his gaze. "Be nice," she whispered before she sprang up to greet them. Aerith shook Dr. Hojo's hand, "Dr. Hojo, thank you for dinner. It's too bad that you won't be staying long in town."

Zack's eyebrow rose. Despite the fact that Dr. Hojo had adopted Cloud and Sephiroth, Zack could not shake the feeling of distrust and dislike he had for the man. A master at hiding his true feelings-Zack gave Dr. Hojo a sincere smile. "Hello there Dr. Hojo, it has been a while."

Dr. Hojo peered down at Zack and narrowed his eyes disapprovingly, "Good evening Zack, I see you are laid back as always." He turned to Aerith and scolded, "Be wary of hanging around with Zack. Or else Cloud will get the wrong idea."

Aerith blushed as she cast her eyes on the ground, "Yes, sir."

Zack bit back his retort knowing that what he says would fall back onto Cloud and Sephiroth. "Well it looks like it is time for me to go do some homework," Zack stated, "Remember we have that project we have to finish that is due tomorrow."

Cloud glanced at him sensing Zack's attempt to get them out of their commitment with their father, "Meet at your place in twenty minutes? Aerith should go with you to get the project started."

"Is that a smart idea?" Dr. Hojo asked Cloud as he peered at him through over his glasses.

"It will be the sensible thing to do," Sephiroth interjected, "She has a few more items to work on than Cloud and I."

"Well then, it was a pleasure seeing you again Aerith," Mr. Hojo said, "Until next time."

"What a pompous ass!" Zack exclaimed as soon as they were out of hearing range. "If he weren't Cloud and Seph's adopted father, I would have given him my two cents on his awful demeanor. He always sounds condescending." Aerith walked silently next to him. "I understand why Cloud would want to get away. I can't believe Seph stayed behind to live with that psychopath." He turned to look at Aerith didn't respond to his ranting, "Aerith?"

"What were you trying to say before?" Aerith asked, "Before they came over to us."

Zack shrugged, he didn't want to impede on her happiness of getting a boyfriend. "Forget about it. I heard that you and Cloud are official dating."

"Where did you hear that? I…" she trailed off. After a few minutes of silent, she started as she twirled her finger around her ribbon, "News travel fast. I wanted to tell you myself."

Zack began without missing a beat, "Cloud will definitely treat you well. I am going to have teach him a thing or two on how to treat a girl." He winked at Aerith, "And if he makes you cry or doesn't treat you like a princess he has me to answer to."

"Oh," Aerith frowned, but then proceeded with a chuckle, "I don't think you need to worry, Cloud is definitely a kind hearted guy. He is willing to protect the people he loves at any length. Once he commits he is all in. For some reason, this group seems to be quite dense when it comes to love."

Her endearing tone when she talked about Cloud stung Zack. _Cloud is a great guy, but why do I have this irritating feeling of wanting to punch him. And also to hide Aerith away from everyone else but him. Wait-did he just think to keep Aerith to himself._ He could feel a small bubble of panic at the revelation. To distract himself asked her, "When did you and Cloud start seeing each other?"

Aerith remained silent until they reached her favorite spot near their homes. It was a small overlook that had panoramic view of the city that was on the property of an old historic church. He leaned against the railing as she gazed upon the city. It was mesmerizing seeing the twinkling lights of the city below them, but not as mesmerizing as the girl next to him. _Woah...what? _Zack leaned against the railing and silently watched her. He was confused as hell what he was feeling. She kept her eyes forward as she spoke, "I was hurt, it is not like I care who you date. You broke your promises twice. Its always been our thing to celebrate our birthdays at the church before we go out to celebrate with others. You just pushed me aside. And when I wanted to talk to you, you were so grouchy and you didn't even apologize for not calling me that night." He flinched at the pain that filled her voice, "I have been foolish and naïve to think that nothing could change between us not matter what, but it did."

"I am so sorry," Zack apologized, "There is no excuse for what I did to you. I was such a jerk that day." He knew what she was were referring to- it was the day of his 17th birthday. He hardly remembered it thanks to the gift Seph brought. He made a promise with Aerith to meet her after school, but Seph surprised him with three bottles of liquor that he had stolen from his father's alcohol cabinet to celebrate with.

Cloud, Seph, and him easily demolished the first bottle. He meant to send her a message, but he forgot. Somewhere along that time three girls ended up joining their party, and between all of them the third bottle was soon gone. Zack remembered bits and pieces. He recalled being at the at historic church being a goofball and then waking up the next morning at Cloud's place with the worst hangover.

On his way out that following morning, he had ran into Aerith. She had asked if he had time to talk about their conversation last night. Zack was late for a family meeting that day, and he was stomach was quite unsettled at that time. The thought of dealing with Aerith was a bit much. Zack cringed remembering what he had said to her-_'I don't need this right now. Aerith, whatever it is not important.' _He was quite a grouch and was careless with his response. Plus he had no idea that she wanted to talk about. To make it even worst, Aerith had ran into him later that day while he was on a date. A date that he went on as a favor for Cloud. Aerith was unusually furious that day. Without listening to his explanation she had dumped her iced coffee on him before she ran off. Since that day Aerith avoided him like the plagued.

"Cloud and I..." Aerith started but stopped, "You said so yourself that Cloud and I were a great match."

"I did…" Zack said confused, "when did I say that? Either way, I am happy for you guys."

"Ah, thanks. Look Zack...about Cloud and I..." Aerith said with a hint of disappointment. "It..." Zack's phone began to ring, and she stopped. "I bet that is one of your many girlfriends."

Zack rolled his eyes at her, "They are just girl friends, not what you think." He silenced his phone. Like he has done many times before when asking forgiveness from her, he hugged her tightly, "Aerith, please forgive me. I am an idiot. I was jerk and did not treat you well. You are the most important person in the world to me. I am glad you have Cloud. He is a great guy." His phone rang again. Aerith stepped out of his embrace and turned away from him. "Go ahead and answer it."

Sighing, he answered his phone. It was his dad telling him to get to the office, they needed an extra strong-able man to do some heavy lifting. "I have to go my dad needs me at his work. Will you be okay?"

Aerith assured him, "Yeah, I will be. Its only a few blocks from here to get home."

Zack gave her kiss on the top of her head and lightly touched her ribbon. "See you later lovely. I am glad you are talking to me again. I will be keeping an eye out on Cloud to make sure he treats you well." He whispered lightly into her ears. He gave her one last hug and left.

As soon as Zack left, Aerith sat down on the ground as she stared at the city below her. Her tears shone brightly from the reflection of the lights. "You broke your promise," she whispered into the dark.

* * *

Cloud was on his way to Zack's house as quickly as he could on foot. _I should have taken my Fenrir, _he thought, _going up this hill is exhausting_. He needed to tell him the truth. As he passed the overlook, he remembered the beautiful blonde haired girl with big brown soulful eyes whom he meet the night of Zack's birthday. He smiled at the thought of her lips. Too bad he had drank way too much to remember her name or to fully recall the exact details of her looks. All he knew was the softness of her lips, and the smell of lavender and vanilla. He frowned when he recognized Aerith sitting on the ground in the dark. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he approached her.

Startled, Aerith pressed her hands to her chest, "Jeeze Cloud. You scared me."

"What did Zack do this time?" Cloud asked seeing her tear-stricken face. He knew she was a roller-coaster of emotions when Zack was the topic. Aerith didn't say anything for a bit as she bit her lip. "Did you tell him?"

She shook her head, as more tears pooled, she vented her frustration to him, "He frustrates me to know end! I don't care what he does anymore. I can't believe he doesn't even remember!"

"You need to clear this up with him, before summer starts." Cloud insisted, "Do you want me to tell him?" She shook her head and made a face at him, "Aerith..."

"I feel like he deserves to be in the dark for now," she said angrily,"He can stay stupid."

Cloud was glad that she had finally stopped crying. He wasn't good at dealing with women let alone a crying one. Then again, a crying woman was sounding better rather than trying to reason with a vengeful one. "I am glad you aren't crying. But you might want to rethink your plan. Your stubbornness is going to create more heartache then required. Let me walk you home," Cloud gently said keeping his arm around her. She looked at him expectantly, "I will keep my mouth shut."

"I wish Zack was more like you. Honest with his feelings. And I wish he would tone down his flirtatious antics, " Aerith stated, "Do you think he will figure it out?"

Cloud laughed, "I hope so. I don't think I can handle all of these threats from all of your admires. The sooner the better, so peace will reign over my life. Having you run to me whenever Zack does something stupid is exhausting. That is how the stupid rumor started."

Aerith stuck her tongue at him, "It's not my fault...The girls that go out with him are so mean to me. They never like me. And the things they say to me..." She shivered, "girls are scary...And I can't just complain to Zack! And Seph just looks at me like I grew two heads. You are the only one I can talk to. Plus we both get something out of it. You will no longer be bothered by the girls."

Cloud remained silent, he couldn't believe he agreed to Aerith's plan. It was true since the circulation of the rumor, he was no longer bothered by the girls. "Promise me you will talk to him," Cloud emphasized, "sooner than later."

Aerith hugged him and exclaimed "You are the best friend anyone can ask for!"

Cloud grumbled, "If I was, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You made a promise remember! You know Zack, unless he figures it out himself he won't believe it and toss it aside like it was absurd," Aerith responded, "Thank you for walking home! I will see you tomorrow for our last day of school! And oh Zack won't be home. He had to go help his dad."

Cloud nodded his thanks and waited for Aerith to get into her house. As soon as she closed the front door, he started his way home. Thoughts of their conversation floated through his mind. He knew she was right. He had flat out told Zack several times that he should just admit he had feelings for Aerith. And Zack would always laugh it off and somehow played it off as a joke. It didn't help that when he got dumped, he would seek Aerith's comfort. Then he would pick up a new girlfriend the next day like clock work. It irritated Cloud to know end, that Zack could not say no to the girls who confess to him. They never lasted long due to his flirtatious, easy-going nature and Aerith. Not that Aerith was mean to them, but once Zack introduces his girlfriend to Aerith they either became total jealous monsters or realize by Zack's interaction with Aerith that there was no room in his heart for anyone else. And Cloud knew that Zack was a faithful guy despite his flirtatious nature, but was ironically dense when it came to Aerith. Goosebumps appeared as he remembered the last girlfriend Zack had. She turned into a total psychotic jealous monster that made a morbol look nice and cuddly.

Cloud looked up into the stars. And sighed. Dealing with his dad was also exhausting and ontop of that he had to deal with Aerith. _Cloud!_ He stopped in his track. Peering around him, he saw nothing, but a deserted road. Frowning, he continued his way. _Cloud!_ He jumped slightly, it felt like a whisper in his ears. He shook his head. _Was this the side effects of the shots? Maybe not...father did say it was just some sort of vitamins to help with the headaches. At least that was what he claimed. I wish Sephiroth would just leave home so I can stop being roped into these stupid experiments. Grant it that most of them were harmless. But since father has come back from Nibelhem he has been acting weird, maybe he is under stress from his work, _Cloud rationalized to himself as he made his way home.

* * *

Author's comment:

Thank you for your continued support!

I have read the reviews and hopefully this chapter will answer some of them! I have some idea idea where the story is going...The story is slowly revealing itself to me : )

Rumia35-I don't think Tifa will be a martial artist... But who knows! :)

sunflower-Vincent did ask her to 'continue' there talk in Chapter 3, he just chose that moment to poke at Cloud.


	7. Chapter 7

Tifa clutched the blanket tightly. Her eyes widened with fear as she looked at the family picture on the wall. It felt like she was plunged into an arctic lake. A sudden chill overtook her as the cold penetrated deep into her bones. It was discombobulating since she could feel the soft texture of Cloud's couch, comforting feeling of the blanket wrapped around, and the warmth from the hot drink Cloud had brought out. It was a contrast to the freezing liquid that enveloped her.

A green haze momentarily filled her vision. Her eyes itched, but stopped when the green haze cleared. Her breathe caught in her throat. It felt like one of those timeline dreams, but this time it felt different. She felt like she was floating. Frightened, she didn't dare move. _Please not again, please…I don't want to see this_. Her vision was still lightly clouded, but she could see she was in a laboratory. Similar to the one she had received the wound. She tried to move, but could not. She looked around in horror. Panic and terror filled Tifa as she struggled against the restraints that held her in place. Now she knew why her vision was obscured. It was because she was inside a glass tube. Bubbles momentarily filled her vision as she screamed and struggled to get free.

"Tifa!" shouted a voice from a distant. She felt a searing heat on her shoulder. The heat quieted her screams and struggle, as her mind tried to grasp what was going on. She could see Cloud and his worried face in front of her as he gently shook her. Screams of a person in agony jerked Tifa back to the horrifying laboratory scene. Out of reflex, Tifa sought after the source of the sound. She spotted an older man with long black hair tied neatly wearing a long white laboratory coat standing by a table. He leaned forward to whisper something to the writhing subject on the table. Tifa grimaced when she realized the person on the table was the source of the screams.

_Déjà vu…why do I feel like I have seen a scene like this before? _Tifa had to blink twice when she saw the silver haired person on the table. _Sephiroth? What!?_

The young Sephiroth face was contorted in pain. He was straining against the straps that held down onto the laboratory table. The man in the white laboratory jacket frowned at the writhing young man. He nodded to his assistant and ordered, "Give him another dose." A young man with short blond hair scurried to get another syringe filled with glowing neon green liquid. The assistant hands shook as he prepped the syringe. As the assistant brought the needle closer to Sephiroth's arm to inject the green substance, Sephiroth jerked knocking the syringe from the assistant's shaking hands and onto the ground. The syringe shattered, and the green liquid flicked into a dull brown color.

The man in the white laboratory jacket clicked his tongue in disapproval. He picked up the broken syringes and looked forlornly at the brown pool. "Damn it. Why did I hire an imp for an assistant? Do I have to do everything myself?!" He twirled around and tossed the broken syringe at the wall. He glared at the assistant who quickly bowed his head and rambled apologetically. "Shut up! And do something useful!"

The man in the laboratory jacket pushed his round glasses further up his hawk like nose. Retrieving two sets of new syringes from the assistant's hand, he strode over to where Tifa was. Terrified, Tifa did not move. He picked up an IV line that held the same green substance; he quickly filled up the syringes. As he filled the syringes, Tifa realized he was drawing from the IV line connected to her arm. Tifa horrified watched him stride over back to Sephiroth with her blood that was strangely glowing green.

"No! It hurts! Please, I can't take it anymore," pleaded the young Sephiroth strapped onto a laboratory table when he saw the man approached him with the syringes. His face was pallid and his silver hair matted against his face from sweat. "Please…" he pleaded again, as he looked pleading at the man.

The man in white coat pushed up his round glasses that had slipped as he examined the vital signs of his subject. Satisfied with the values, he ignored the pleas as he shouted to his assistant, "Hold him down!" The young assistant scurried to his aid. The assistant held down Sephiroth who struggled against him as the man quickly pierced the needle into his arm. Sephiroth's face twisted in pain as the liquid entered his vein. Sephiroth gritted his teeth as he tried to stifle his scream. "Would you rather I do this to your brother?" said the man as he tossed the syringe on a tray and grabbed the other syringe. With a defeated face Sephiroth shook his head. The man smiled, "That is what I thought. Just bear with it. The pain should subdue in a few hours. And you should be back in school by Monday."

Tifa gasped when she saw the number of used syringes piled high on the tray. Liquid entered her lungs causing her body to reflexively gag. The man turned around at the sound of her movement. His eyes filled with surprised, and glee at Tifa, "Well, lucky for you, we will have to stop for now. The princess has woken up."

Horrified, Tifa watched him approach the glass tube she was in. She could no longer feel the couch or Cloud's hands on her shoulder. She struggled against the restraint as she tried to escape the menacing look of the man. She screamed as memories, that were buried began to resurface.

* * *

As soon as Cloud left the bedroom, Zack immediately cornered Aerith. Frazzled, Aerith backed up against the wall. Her courage left her at the proximity of him. "What?" she asked nervously. Aerith felt her pulse quicken as he leaned forward placing his hand on the wall caging her in. Zack frowned slightly noticing her nervous tick as she twirled a strand of hair absently. He asked, "What is this about a rumor?"

Aerith's could feel her brain malfunctioning at the proximity and the huskiness of his voice so close to her ears. Her heart fluttered at his masculine smell emanating from him. Changing the subject she snapped at him, "You didn't have to punch Cloud." She gave him a small shove as she tried to duck under his arm to get away. He didn't budge. With quick move, he blocked her escape attempt. He stepped in closer. Angrily, she faced him, "Can you please let me out?!"

"I won't let you out until you talk…What is this about a _rumor_?" Zack repeated his question ignoring her attempt to switch the topic. His nose wrinkled slightly at the light male scent that mingled with her usual light flower scent. "You reek…" he absently said. He couldn't help, but want to wash the scent off of her. Zack quickly brushed the thought away.

"You do too!" Aerith responded as she pushed him back. He didn't budge. Hard muscles met her hands. She quickly removed them as she blushed. She looked up at him and saw he was looking at her lost in thought. Her lips parted slightly as she was momentarily hypnotized by his soft starburst baby blue eyes framed by irresistibly long eyelashes. He sighed, causing her to look down at his lips. She felt herself leaning in as she unconsciously moistened her lips.

Zack's eyes were immediately drawn to her lips as her tongue came out to moisten them. Her lips were a light cherry pink color with a soft sheen of moisture. Soft and inviting. _Get a hold of yourself! She is off limits!_ As his logical self yelled at him. He turned his head to cough. He stepped back slightly. "Why are you avoiding my question?" he asked.

Aerith shocked at what she had almost done flattened herself against the wall. She did not reply to his question. Embarrassed, she wished fervently that the wall would swallow her up. Aerith was already exhausted emotionally and physically from the lack of sleep from this morning ordeal, she could feel her emotions breaking through. Jealous, hurt and sadness overwhelmed her. The memories from earlier resurfaced.

It was at the crack of dawn when she received a call from Zack who begged her to pick him up; he needed to be back before his parents woke up. Being a good friend, she had agreed only to regret it later. She was curious why Zack would be in such a place when she arrived at the posh address located in the rich part of the city. She waited patiently as she sent a text to Zack of her arrival. Within a few minutes came out of the place with a beautiful girl in tow. He gave her a hug before he dashed out to Aerith's car. Realizing what the situation was, Aerith's mood soured. They rode back to their neighborhood in silence.

As soon as she dropped off Zack at his place, she drove to Cloud's apartment as she bawled her eyes out. Not wanting to be alone, she barged her way into Cloud's apartment and used Cloud as her crying pillow. It was the first time; she knew that Zack ever slept over at a girl's house other than her own. The girl was beautiful.

Her eyes began to brim with tears at the thought of Zack being with the girl. She looked up to prevent the tears from falling. She tightly twisted her hair on her finger. A sharp pain arose from the lost of circulation in her finger. The pain kept the tears at bay. Hoping that her voice would not betray her feelings, she asked feinting ignorance, "What are you talking about?" Her vision was becoming distorted from the tears building up.

Zack was not deterred; he tilted her chin down so she would face him. It was a mistake. "The rumor..." he started, but stopped when he saw that her eyes were brimmed with tears. She bit her lips to prevent them from spilling. "Aerith," he said softly as he gently brushed her hair away, "I am so sorry. For whatever I did wrong. I am so sorry. Forgive me, love."

His last word triggered the flood gates to open as her tears cascaded down. Without thinking, Zack embraced her as he tried to sooth her tears away, "Aerith… please don't cry."

"I hate you," Aerith mumbled into his chest in between her sobs. His embrace felts so right and natural. _Why can't I have fallen in love with Cloud...why do I always have to forgive him for his stupid antics?_

Zack sighed as he apologized, "I am sorry for being a dick and a jerk this morning. You are right…I am neither your parent nor boyfriend. You and Cloud can do whatever you want as a girlfriend and boyfriend. I want to protect you, and I don't want you to rush things. I just afraid you might get hurt knowing Cloud... I am your best friend...I just want the best for you…" he paused briefly as the word 'friend' left a bitter heavy pit in his stomach. He shook his head as he recovered, "My parents are wondering if we had been fighting since you have not been over for dinner of late. They are threatening to disown me so they can have you over for dinner."

A small chuckle escaped from Aerith, she could not stay mad at Zack for long. Her sobbing subsided to a hiccup. Aerith unconsciously rubbed her running nose against his shirt. Zack jokingly said, "Since I let you use me as a human tissue will you forgive me?"

"No, you are not forgiven you jerk," Aerith responded, "If you promise to watch a marathon of Dreams of Zanarkand with me...I might find room to forgive you. And promise me you will never call me again for that reason."

Aerith could feel Zack's heartily laugh as her head bounced slight against his chest, "You strike a hard bargain my dear. As an act of peace, I will even bring over the popcorn and chocolate candy chocobos." He tightened his hold on Aerith and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

Aerith sighed relishing his warmth and embrace. Her peace was short-lived as her conscience kicked in. _Tell him, tell him the truth. _Mustering up the courage, Aerith pulled away from the hug. Biting her lips she started, "I...Cloud and I...are..."

Before she could finish, they heard Cloud shout loudly from the living room, "Tifa!" Together they rushed out of the bedroom in time to see Cloud get pushed back as Tifa ran out the apartment door.

"Cloud! What is going on? What happened? "Aerith exclaimed at him, as quickly sat up and pursued Tifa.

Zack pulled her back before she could run out the door after them, "Please change your clothes before you go out there."

Aerith gave him a glare, but rushed back into the bedroom for her pants. She came out of the bedroom quickly and stuck her tongue out at Zack, "Happy?"

He smiled at her usual antics; he quelled the jealous thoughts that threatened to rise when he noticed that she was still wearing Cloud's shirt. "Let's go find out what is going on," he said as he opened the apartment door.

* * *

As Cloud pursued Tifa down the hallway she glanced back at him. Even from this distance, Cloud could see that the color of her eyes were unusual. Shocked, Cloud momentarily stopped. _Red eyes...Tifa's eyes were definitely a beautiful deep chocolate brown. Wait... I know those eyes. "_Tifa, wait!" he shouted as he resumed his pursuit of her. He closed the distant when she stopped briefly, but lost it as she resumed her escape. "Shit," Cloud cursed as he pushed himself to catch up to her as she turned the corner to the stairwell.

As he came around the corner, he saw her jump down the one flight of stairs. Cloud cringed, as she landed clumsy onto her knees. She stood up shakily. Blood stained the bottom parts of her dress. Tifa frowned, at her right foot. She looked bewildered and confused. "Stop Tifa!" he shouted at her. She looked up in surprise briefly before she continued her escape with a slight limp. He could tell that she was pushing her body beyond its capacity.

Tifa stopped as she became aware where she was. _What? Why am I running away from Cloud? _Tifa gasped at the pain as she landed on her sprained foot. Letting out a yelp of pain, she stumbled down the stairs head first. She instinctively yelled out, "Cloud!"

Everything felt like it was in slow motion. Instinctively, Cloud launched himself towards her. He collided into her midair; he wrapped his arms around her and maneuvered himself to take the fall. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact. None came. Breathing heavily from the adrenaline, Cloud opened his eyes. His back was against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. _What...How did I do that? _He looked up at the top of the stairs surprised at his agility. _Did I just jump down two flights of stairs and came out unharmed?_ He looked down at the disheveled Tifa, who was trembling. She buried her face into his bare chest. He tightened his grip on her. _Something was going on, how in the world did I make it to her in time? And why did she bolt like that as if she was running away from something. Was she running away from me?_

With ease, he gently sat Tifa on the steps. She flinched from him. "Tifa... l am not going to hurt you. I just want to check on your injuries," he said softly as if he was talking to a hurt wild animal. He assessed the damage-her right leg was starting to swell, one of her knee was bruising while the other was bleeding from the large shallow scrape. Cloud also noticed that her skin was cold to the touch. He lifted her chin so she would look at him. _Red eyes... _Other than the colors of her eyes, he could see nothing else that changed. _Did the Tifa from the other timeline cross over? And awoke in Tifa's body?_ He pondered. "What is going on?" he gently asked Tifa, "Did you have another vision?" Tifa flinched again at his voice still disoriented and avoided looking at him.

"I..." Tifa started, "There was an accident..."

"Cloud! Tifa!" Aerith called out worried when she saw them two sets of stairs below her. Zack came up behind her looking equally concerned. Cloud swore under his breath at the interruption.

"How did the heck did they get down there so fast?" Zack muttered, following Aerith. He flinched when he saw the blood on Tifa's dress and bloodied knees. "Tifa! Your beautiful legs. Let's get you back to the apartment!" he exclaimed as he examined her legs. He raised an eyebrow at Cloud, who ignored him. Without a word, Zack gently scooped Tifa up, and made his way to the elevator of the building. Aerith lips tightened with displeasure at his attentiveness to Tifa, but quickly covered it with a smile as Zack glanced back at Cloud and her. "We better get her back inside the apartment. Cloud, you have some explaining to do."

Before Tifa could protest, Cloud said, "It's okay…we aren't going to hurt you. We need to take care of your legs first, and then we can talk." Both Aerith and Zack looked at Cloud quizzically.

Tifa nodded, and peeked at Aerith. "Aerith..." Tifa paled as she spoke softly under her breath. She made a quick glance at Cloud and Zack, then back at Aerith with wide eyes. Tifa felt a splitting headache coming as she tried to understand what was happening. It felt like she was waking up from a nightmare. _Why was she trying to run away from Cloud? Obviously, Aerith would be here...but why am I surprised that she is?_

Once they were all in the apartment, Zack sat Tifa down on a chair in the dining room and made his way to the kitchen. Aerith stopped him. "I'll get the first aid kit," said Aerith as she rushed passed him into the kitchen.

Zack raised an eyebrow at Aerith's retreating back and muttered under his breath, "She gets on my case about spending one night with a girl, where as she probably has spent enough times here to know where things are… I didn't even know he had a first aid kit here." He turned to see Cloud was gently propping Tifa's legs on another chair that he had moved closer. He carefully adjusted a few of the pillows he had brought over to elevate her legs.

Tifa remained silent, as she watched him intently. Zack was bothered by the attention Cloud was getting, Zack commented, "You should be more careful of your actions Cloud."

Cloud asked annoyed as he used the same tone as Zack, "What are you referring to _Zack_?" Cloud was beginning to get annoyed with the situation between Aerith and Zack. He didn't need their troubles to be added to his. Now that he had found Tifa, things were getting confusing especially with visions coming and going.

Tifa smiled kindly at Zack interrupting their conversation, "So you are Zack...I can see why Cloud admires you so much." Tifa frowned...she didn't know where that came from. _Why did I just blurt that out? _She shook her head._ I don't know Cloud enough to know if he admires Zack. _She told herself. _All I know are_ _t__hey going to school together._

Zack snickered at Cloud, "You hear that…" Cloud threw one of the extra pillows at him. Zack easily caught the pillow and threw it back at Cloud. Zack threw the pillow a bit harder than he intended to which the pillow to fly towards Tifa. Cloud quickly caught it before it could hit Tifa.

Tifa blinked as she admired Cloud's quick reflex. "Thank you," she said quietly. She made eye contact with Cloud, who quickly turned away. He mumbled something she couldn't hear before he stood up and walked over to the living room. He sat down on the couch as he rubbed his temple.

"Zack!" Aerith lectured, "Don't be throwing stuff around an injured person!" She pushed Zack out of the way as she went over to Tifa. Tifa held in a flinch as Aerith attended to her wounds. She sat there silently as she took in what was happening. She remembered having a vision...about what she couldn't remember at all. All she could remember was being terrified.

"I will do as my lovely Aerith commands," he teased as he followed her to Tifa. "Now let's have a look." He whistled at the bruises that were forming on Tifa's legs. "Tifa you sure did a number on your beautiful legs. Just give me the command and I can give Cloud a beating. I am your soldier. And I always protect maidens from fiends like Cloud." Tifa stifled a giggle and relaxed a bit. _He sure is over the top_…

Seeing that she had relaxed - he continued, "Up this close you are quite breath-taking even with your knees all bloodied." He winked at her, "We should ditch these two love birds and go do our own studying."

Cloud frowned at Aerith's obvious agitation and Zack's over the top flirtation towards Tifa. _How am I going to explain what is happening…and these two…_He observed Zack and Aerith's interaction as they fussed over Tifa. Tired of Zack's flirtatious comments to Tifa, Aerith turned to him and gave him a cold smile, "Can you grab me a towel with ice for her ankle?" Oblivious to Aerith's annoyance, Zack winked at Tifa and made his way to the kitchen.

Cloud sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. _I feel like I stepped into a war zone._ As Zack left the room to get the towels; Aerith gave Tifa an apologetic smile and excused herself. She pulled Cloud off the couch. _What now…_Cloud thought slightly irritated.

Aerith whispered in his ears, "Don't tell Zack please."

Cloud sighed heavily, "Aerith...this has to stop. I already have a lot on my plate already. Just grow up and tell him." He glanced at Tifa, who still looked bewildered at the situation.

Aerith saw him glance at Tifa, "Cloud please. I need you please…just this one thing." With a sudden surge of possessiveness, she wrapped her arms around him, blocking his view of Tifa. She peered at him as she pouted. "Please Cloud. I can only depend on you. I promise, I will tell him as soon as I can."

"Aerith…I don't…" Cloud started but was interrupted by a loud fake cough. They both turned to see Zack with his arms crossed.

Zack asked as he handed Tifa the towel filled with ice to place on her ankle, "Don't we have other things to worry about? Like why was Tifa madly rushing away from you?"

Cloud opened his mouth to answer, but Tifa quickly cut in, "It is not his fault...I confessed to him." The last part she mumbled quickly. She bowed her head, to hide her blush. She could not believe that was the only thing she could think of as an excuse for her quick escape.

"What?!" Aerith and Zack both exclaimed. All of them gaped at her then turned to Cloud. Cloud was turning a shade of pink at the sudden announcement.

Tifa shakily continued, "He turned me down. And so I was so embarrassed, I rushed out. I just needed to get air. And…" Tifa took a deep breath as if preventing herself from crying. Tifa quietly prayed they would believe the lie.

"Oh, Tifa," Aerith rushed to her and hugged her; "You don't have to continue. I can understand." Surprised at Aerith's sincere sympathy Tifa was speechless.

Zack raised his eyebrows skeptically at her. "Sure you do," Zack scoffed as he gave Cloud a glare, "Cloud sure has a knack for making girls cry."

"Why don't we get some breakfast, and we can talk?" Aerith suggested ignoring Zack's comment. At that moment Zack's phone rang. Zack glanced at the name. He cursed silently, remembering why he had come to Cloud's apartment.

"Oh...Hi, Mrs. Gainsborough…" Zack answered slowly. It was Aerith's turn to raise her eyebrow at him, "Yeah I found her, and no she was not over a boy's house. She had to go to the school to pick up a few items for our school project we are doing. And she ended up meeting up with Tifa and Cloud. We were supposed to meet up for the project this morning..."

Everyone in the room was silent as Aerith's mother voice could be heard through the phone. She asked Zack in a controlled tone with an underlying anger, "Can you please drive her home?" Her tone made Aerith gulped. In her emotional state she had forgotten about her mom needing the car for an appointment that morning. Zack sighed as soon as he was off the phone, "I guess we will have meet up again later. Can we drop you off at home, Tifa?"

Tifa quickly responded, "I can take the train home, I need time to think."

Aerith asked, "Are you sure?"

Tifa nodded and gave her a smile. "I will be fine. I can handle a rejection."

Sighing, Aerith grabbed a notebook from shelf, and scribbled a quick note. She tore the paper out and handed it to Tifa, "Here is my number, call me when you get home."

"Aerith..." Zack started, "I don't think she will want to. Since Cloud is dating…" he trailed off when Aerith gave him a death glare.

"Please call me when you get home. I would love to hang out with you sometime. And we can just have a girl's day." Aerith continued. She shot Zack another glare as he opened his mouth to put in his two cents.

"Umm...okay" Tifa said slowly as she looked at the number on the paper. _This is so awkward...I can't believe I said that I confessed in front of the person who is dating the person I confessed to. Stop! It's not like you actually confessed. _Tifa could feel the heat from her blush rise again as she thought of her situation.

"That is great! I will talk to you soon. I am so sorry to rush out on your guys." She gave Cloud a big hug and whispered, "We can talk later. Please don't tell him." Out of the blue and on impulse, she gave Cloud a kiss on the cheeks. Cloud saw Zack's glare, before he turned away to pick Aerith's stuff in the living room.

Cloud hugged her back, and nodded. He watched Zack helped gather her stuff as they rushed out of his apartment. He sighed as he muttered, "One crisis done, one more to deal with." He wondered if he would ever get that school project done in time.

Silent filled the air as soon as the two left. "Who is that man in that picture?" Tifa asked pointing at the smiling blacked hair man with the round glasses holding two young twin boys with golden blonde hair. The picture looked like a family portrait, but the twins did not have any features from the man holding them.

"My father," Cloud replied, he turned back to see Tifa paled with fear. "Tifa? What is it?"


	8. Chapter 8

_"My father," Cloud replied, he turned back to see Tifa paled with fear. "Tifa? What is it?"_

"Tifa…have you seen my father in your vision?" he asked tentatively. Tifa blinked. She glanced at Cloud then back at the picture. _His father?_ Trembling, Tifa tried to gather her thoughts that had scattered at the sight of the smiling man in the picture.

Everything about him was normal with the exception of his eyes that were hidden by the glare of his glasses. He emitted nothing that would illicit such strong emotion especially fear. For the life of her, Tifa could not remember meeting him at anytime of her life. But at the sight of him, it felt like someone had reached inside and was squeezing her heart. Her vision narrowed, and Tifa realized that she was holding her breath. _Breathe! _Tifa yelled at herself as she tried to control herself.

At the edge of her mind, an unknown memory. Something that felt important. Trying to push it's way through Tifa's consciousness. '_No!' _yelled a young girl's voice. '_Don't! Stop it! I don't want to rem..' _The voice young girl's voice became contorted. She began screaming in agony.

At the sound of the young girl's screams, Tifa pushed back instinctively. Fearing the memory. But as she did, the memory pushed back harder. The walls closed in on her. As the memory forced it's way back into existence. The pressure in her heart increased. Her grip on reality slipped.

Cloud rushed to her side, as his thoughts to clarify that it was his adopted father was pushed aside by his worries for Tifa. He reached to touch her, but stopped. His fingers curled into a fist as he withdrew his hand. She was afraid. He did not want another repeat from earlier.

Kneeling down beside her, he could see she was trembling. Her breathing was erratic. Her red eyes were wide and filled with terror. He knew that she was no longer seeing him. He was all too familiar with the expression of fear that painted her face and riddled her body. "Tifa?" he gently spoke. She did not respond. _Was this a reaction triggered from the other line? A memory?_

Cloud could see the tension in her body, and knew she would bolt at a mere touch. Realizing this; he gently assured her, "Tifa, he is not here. What you are seeing is just a picture. You are safe, he is not here." He repeated the last sentence several times gently like a lullaby. "You are safe, he is not here." Tifa's eyes eerily glowed for a few seconds. Cloud kept his lullaby up, as he watched the glow fade away revealing the chocolate brown eyes that Tifa normally had. Tifa's shoulders sagged as her head rolled back. Cloud caught her as she slid off the chair.

* * *

Thick, white, fluffy flakes fell all around Tifa. Exhaling, a thin puff of cloud formed as the heat and moisture from her breath collided with the cold. She glanced up, and was memorized by the fluff that was silently falling all around her. Tentatively, she stretched out her arms. The flakes softly kissed her outstretched hand before they disappeared from the heat of her skin. It tickled. A small wet cool puddle of water was left behind.

_Snow? Where am I? _She glanced around. The trees were naked from their glories crown of leaves. The smaller branches dipped slightly from the precariously perched snow. The ground was blanketed with a thick layer of virgin snow. It was a forest in its winter slumber. And nothing looked familiar.

Tifa stood quietly as she listened for any sounds. She hoped to catch the familiar sounds of the city. Or anything that give her a clue on where she was. It was silent except for the sound of her breathing. Oddly, she did not feel cold. There were no other signs of life, or a clue on how she got to where she was. _Should I stay here and hope someone comes by_? Tifa pondered. She glanced around one more time. Making her decision she began trudging through the snow. The only sound she could hear was the snow crunching under the weight of her footsteps.

After 20 minutes of trekking through the snow, Tifa paused to glance at her surroundings. Taking in a deep breath and she exhaled. Watching the thin puff of cloud disappear she contemplated if it was a good decision to keep going. Tifa frowned as she stared at a familiar looking knot on a thin white birched tree. _Wait…didn't I see that same knot at the beginning?_

Did she just walk in a circle? Tifa glanced around. _Maybe not_. _Okay let's keep going, I should eventually run into something like a river or a road._ Fifteen minutes went by, and Tifa found herself in front of the same knotted birch tree. She glanced behind her at her trail. A faint dent from her shoe prints could be seen within a few feet of her. Further out there was no sign of her trail. The snow was covering her trail quickly. _What…I just went in the a straight direction. How did I end up back here?_

_"Tifa!" shout an indistinguishable voice. _Tifa glanced around to locate the source of the shout. She saw no one within eye sight. The shout echoed through the woods. Perplexed and with more caution she continued through the silent forest hoping to find the source of the voice. The familiarity of the voice tugged at Tifa's memories. She stopped. As the tugging sensation became stronger._ The last thing I remember was…That's funny I can't remember. Was there a fight? An angel that was a monster? A green, soft, warm light..._

The sounds of children giggling startled Tifa from her train of thoughts. It was the first sound of life that Tifa encountered. She ran towards the sound. _Maybe they will tell me where I am, and that will help me remember what I am forgetting. _Within a few seconds, she came upon a clearing. It was breathtaking. The snow covered the field. It was beautiful and serene. It was a winter wonderland. Another set of giggling echoed through the woods breaking the enthrallment of the scene before her.

Tifa glanced around to see where the giggles had come from. There was no sign of any children. Tifa sat down on the snow giving up. With a sigh, she laid in the snow with her arms spread out. She watched the snow fall. She began to drift off to sleep, but sat up quickly when she heard the giggling was closer. Right near the edge of the field, she spotted two boys about seven years old or so with the same golden blonde hair. The familiarity of the golden blonde hair tugged at her memory._ Someone I kno_w...They were the source of the giggling.

"Hey!" Tifa shouted to them as she sprung onto her feet, "Do you know where I am?" The boys had stopped laughing. From their body language it looked like they were arguing. They didn't stop at the sound of Tifa's voice. Tifa stopped. "Hey!" She was sure she was close enough for them to hear her shout. They still didn't take notice.

Cautiously, Tifa approached them. She was hoping she could ask them where she was. At a closer view, she could see the young boys._ They look like twins...how odd._ She examined their features from afar. They had the same features with the exception of their eyes. One had green eyes the other had blue eyes. With wide eyes, she was flabbergasted..._I thought he didn't have any other siblings...wait who is this he?_ Tifa shook her head as she felt that tug again,_ there was more important thing at hand to worry about...like where was she. Who were these twins?_

It looked like they had settled their argument when a young girl with long dark brown hair came bounding out to them from the same direction Tifa had come from. Startled, Tifa started to say something, but stopped. The young girl had run past her and did not even notice her. Nor did the boys show any acknowledgement of Tifa's presence that was in their line of sight._ Weird_...Tifa thought she scratched her head, trying to understand what was going on._ They don't see me?_

When the girl had caught up to them she flicked each of the boy on their forehead. Tifa couldn't help but chuckle. As the boys rubbed their foreheads from the pain. The young girl placed her hands on her hip as she spoke. It looked like the young girl was scolding them.

Tifa was still far enough that she could not hear what they were saying. But she could see one of the twins face as he turned away from the girl. Green eyes were brimmed with tears. Her heart went out to him. The other twin laughed loudly at something the young girl said. Tifa could see the green eyed twin's hands curl into a fist. His face turned red either from embarrassment or anger.

The other twin poked at his twin. The green eyed twin quickly turned around and grabbed his twin's hat off from his head. With a swift flick of his wrist the hat went sailing across the field.

The minute the hat left his hand, Tifa could see immediate regret at his rash action. He hid it with a laugh and stuck his tongues out at his twin. It was the blue-eyed twins turn for his eyes to brim with tears. Regretting what he did, the green eyed twin made his way down onto the field. The young girl shouted something at the green eyed twin. He grinned as he turned back and yelled back at her. With a huff, the girl turned around to console the crying blue-eyed twin.

Tifa gasped, she could now see the face of the young girl. It was looking in the mirror of the past. It was her when she was seven years old. _But I don't remember being friends with any blonde haired twin boys...Is this a dream?_

The green eyed twin was halfway to the hat, when a faint rumbling echoed through the quiet forest. He froze. Tifa frowned..._what could possible cause that rumbling._

She felt a prick on her arm. She glanced down and saw an IV on her arm._ That is strange...when did..._ A voice filled the area. It drowned out the rumbling sound. Whoever it was, was calling her name. "Wait..." Tifa yelled out to the children as they turned and ran away into the distance and onto the field.

Tifa awoke to the sounds of multi-machines beeping. Panic arose. She set up quickly startling Cloud.

* * *

Cloud was sitting by her bedside contemplating about the visions. He didn't like the fact that Tifa was fainting often whenever he was around. And the fear. A heavy pit settle in his stomach. The only other person he had seen such paralyzing fear was on his brother. But that was years ago, when they were younger. He was startled at first as Tifa sat up from the bed. Relief immediately followed at the sight of Tifa conscious. He stood up and stood closer to the bed, he asked her, "Tifa! How are you feeling?"

Tifa didn't hear him as she frantically pulled the IV line that was in her arm. "Stop Tifa," Cloud said, as he pushed her hand away from pulling the IV out. "Relax, everything is okay."

Tifa shook her head to clear the fog that was settling in her mind. She felt woozy. It took all of her will to stay up. With some effort she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. One of her leg was in a cast. She frowned. The last thing she remembered was..._That is weird. I was at Cloud's house sitting on his couch drinking hot chocolate. Why is my leg in a cast? _"How did I get here? What did they give me?" she demanded Cloud.

Bewildered at her reaction Cloud answered, "Just some pain killers... you have a fractured tibia ..."Cloud trailed off when he realized that Tifa's eye color were blood red. He slowly finished his reply, "You passed out after Aerith and Zack left. I brought you into the hospital." He didn't mention about the picture in fear that it would trigger the same reaction.

"I need to get home," Tifa hastily said. Why couldn't she remember ever seeing Aerith and Zack leaving? Or how in the world did she injure herself? She took a few deep breaths to calm down. She attempted to stand. Black dots swam across her vision. She felt Cloud's strong arms around her shoulder holding her steady.

"You shouldn't be up. You need to rest," Cloud said. He guided her back down on the bed. "The doctor said they will need to run some testing that will take some time."

"I need to go home now," Tifa repeated firmly as she made another attempt to stand. Cloud sighed, seeing that she was not going to budge about staying.

"Let me get a wheel chair at least," Cloud replied. He firmly but gently pushed her back onto the bed. "Sit here and I will get it." Cloud dashed out of the room and made his way to the nurses' charge station. "Can I get a wheelchair for my friend?" he asked the nurse at the desk.

He didn't notice her blush or the flirty smile she gave him, "It is over there, is there anything I can help you with?" Cloud thanked her and walked down the hallway to the wheelchairs. The nurse pouted as she watched him walk away.

As he was pushing the wheelchair back to the room, Sephiroth came walking down the hallway towards him. "Seph? What are you doing out and about? I thought you were to be discharged tomorrow?" He greeted him with a wave. Cloud knew better to try to give his brother a hug. "Should you be up at this moment? You have lost weight! Is the hospital food that bad?"

"I didn't break a leg, just recovering from a fever. I starved because of your negligence in bringing me decent eatable food," His brother responded nonchalantly, "I was discharged earlier. I was about to leave, when I heard a few of the young nurses gossiping about a dreamy blonde haired, blue eye male on a fenrir. Who was waiting for his brunette haired fiancée. I figured it was you and curious who this fiancée was. The description did not match Aerith's and it was the first I have heard of my brother's fiancée."

Cloud sheepishly laughed slightly taken aback with Sephiroth's keen interest, "Well, they didn't take her in at first. And we were sitting there for more than 20 minutes. They took her in quite fast when I named dropped our dad's name and mentioned that she was my fiancée."

"Who is she?" Sephiroth asked seriously, "Does our father know about your fiancée?"

"First, she is not my fiancée," Cloud clarified, "She is a friend from school. And no, father does not know her. I just meet her a week ago in our class." He was surprised at Sephiroth. It had been months since they had spoken then more than one sentence with each other. Let alone joked with one another.

"What does she look like…"Sephiroth trailed off as Tifa poked her head out into the hallway looking for Cloud. She was pale, and she was tethering as if she was going to past out. Seeing her, Cloud excused himself as he pushed to the wheelchair back to the room.

"I thought I told you to wait," Cloud scolded her as he helped her onto the wheelchair. She did not look well. Cloud also noted that her eyes had returned to the color of chocolate, "Are you sure you want to go home?"

Tifa sighed with relief when she sat down on the wheelchair. Her head felt heavy along with everything else. "Yes I want to go home," she replied. She smiled sheepishly at Cloud as she explained, "I don't do so well with being in the hospitals." _And also that I can't afford to pay for it_, Tifa thought to herself.

"Alright, we will have to fill out some paperwork to get you discharged out early. We still have to finish the rest of your personal information. I didn't know half of it. So I just used my address we probably should update that," Cloud explained, "And we need to get your medication prescription filled out."

As Cloud pushed her out of the room, a random nurse accompanied with a security rushed to her, "You can't be out of bed young lady, and the doctors are still running tests on your blood. And…"

The security guard pushed Cloud aside and began to push Tifa back into the room. "Hey!" Cloud protested, as he tried to grab the wheelchair back.

"Cloud?" Tifa turned to him pleading, "I want to go home."

Sephiroth strode over to them. With his arms folded in front of him, he stopped the security guard. The security guard looked at the nurse then back at Sephiroth, "Sir, please move. We have been told that this patient needs to stay longer due to some tests."

Sephiroth looked at him annoyed, "You know who I am. That is good, this will make it easier." In an authoritative voice, he spoke to the guard and nurse, "She is fine, and she wants to go home. I am allowing her to be discharged. And if the doctors have any issues, tell them I will be along shortly to personally talk to them about this patient." He gave them an icy glare. The security guard started to say something, but the nurse grabbed his arms. She bowed her head to Sephiroth as she excused herself and the guard. She pulled the guard away. The guard looked back at Tifa and Sephiroth before she hurried down the hallway.

Cloud gave his brother a quizzically look, he forced a smile, "Wow, I didn't realize you had so much authority here…you must be shadowing him. Taking over the family business?"

"Something like that," Sephiroth said, "You should know how our old man is, ever since you left I had to take up the mantle."

Cloud looked away feeling the guilt. Not wanting to deal with it, he changed the subject, "Thank you, I would prefer if she would stay. But she wants to go home."

Tifa fidgeted in the wheelchair at the conversation between the brothers, "Can we get going please?"

Sephiroth looked at her, and saw the markings of the IV left behind when she had torn it off. He could see a start of the bruise from the improper removal. Tifa quickly hid it, noticing his glance.

Out of the blue, Sephiroth green eyes flashed with anger. He grabbed Cloud by his shirt and yelled at him, "Cloud what have you done?!"

"What? It's hard to explain," Cloud started, "She fell down the stairs while she was leaving. And it was because a couple things happened before. Zac and Aerith were there..."

With an icy glare, Sephiroth interrupted, "Enough, I don't need your explanation. What's done is done." Taking a deep breath, he released his hold on Cloud's shirt, "Take her home _now_."

"What about the paperwork?" Cloud asked. Tifa looked between the two confused at the interaction. It was slightly awkward to be caught in a middle of an argument. "I have yet to fill out her personal information and we need to get her medications," Cloud listed off.

"I will take care of it. Take my car," Sephiroth handed Cloud a set of keys and ordered icily, "Take her home now..." He strode away without looking at Tifa or Cloud. Cloud stared at him slightly bewildered and irritated at being ordered around.

"What is his problem?" Cloud murmured at the strange outburst from his brother. Ever since he moved out, he had drifted apart from his brother. Well more like his brother had shut him out from his life since he woke up at the hospital that summer. He quelled the lurking thought that told him it was before that. Cloud shook the despairing thought as he wheeled Tifa down the hallway to take her home.

* * *

Tifa sighed with relief as she sat down in the booth of the bar. She was covered in sweat from her trek home. She really needed a shower, but was too tired to make exert the effort to get herself upstairs. Maybe she should have let Cloud accompany her home._ No it makes more since that I took the train home. There was no way he was going to be able to get the car here in the slums anyway or even get it out…Plus, it gave me time to think. Not like, I am ashamed of where I live. It's been a crazy Saturday. _Tifa rationalized. She settled into the booth. Her trek home had helped clear away the fog that was sifting through her mind, but now her leg was hurting.

Cloud had escorted her to Sephiroth's car. The car was luxurious. Cloud did not bat an eye as he helped her in, and got in the driver seat. As he started the car with ease, he asked for her home address. Nervous of driving a luxurious car in the slums, Tifa spouted a lie about a meeting with Yuffie. Tifa knew she was not a great liar. But she kept it up. She knew there were murmurs against the affluent society. And driving such a car in her neighborhood was asking for trouble. After a few minutes of convincing Cloud that she was feeling better and that her friend Yuffie was meeting with her. She assured him that Yuffie lived near her and would escort her home. It was a huge relief when he agreed.

Tifa was glad for the solitary time. She needed time to think. There was something important that happened. But she couldn't remember anything besides the dream and waking up in the hospital.

During the train ride home the events kept replaying in her mind. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she remember anything after drinking the hot chocolate? Why was she fainting so much? Was she anemic? And the snow dream…what was that about? It felt like her brain was going to explode from rationalizing the events. She remembered sipping on the hot chocolate while on the couch. She was waiting for Cloud to come back out. And then she woke up in the hospital.

As they waited for the train Cloud had mentioned that she had another vision that resulted in her trying to escape his apartment. And at her attempt to run she had tried to jump down the stairs which explained her broken leg. What would cause her to do that? Why couldn't she remember the details of the vision_? _Was the memory's from the other time line causing her to have holes in her memories? It was blank. As if someone had wiped her memory clean of that time. Was that someone the other Tifa? Maybe it was the medication the hospital gave me…Tifa thought throwing all logic into the air. She got nowhere with finding the answers she needed. Before she knew the train had stopped at her station and she had to use all of energy into making the trek home.

Sighing, she laid her head on the table of the booth she was seated at. The cold surface against her sweaty hot cheeks felt good. The cool sensation brought her thought back to the dream she had the hospital-the snowy field, the twins and the young girl. The young girl was her. But she did not have any recollection of that time or being friends with twins. The dream was bizarre; it felt so real that it could have been a memory of hers. She tried recalling her childhood memories. Nothing of the twins or of a large snow field appeared. Maybe the snowy field was in the little town she used to live when she was younger. But then again, she could not recall ever snowing like that there. "Ugh! Why, am I having a problem remembering?!" Tifa shouted out loud as she scratched her head in frustration. "Why can't I make sense on what is happening here? It all started with seeing Sephiroth… but the fainting only intensified since I visited Cloud's apartment. Why? I didn't see any visions when I saw Sephiroth at the hospital."

She glanced around the bar. It was quiet. The bar was a stark contrast to the penthouse that Cloud lived in. It was a little hole in the wall, with a small bar and three booths. It was an old bar with dings here and there. It was clean, but it did nothing to hide the worn look. She did not how her father kept the place afloat. She was thankful. Of late they were barely making their bills. Speaking about her father, she hobbled into the kitchen to see if he left her a note. It was unusual for him to be not home at this time.

_'T, I had to go help a friend. Don't know when I will be back. For emergency only use phone in junk drawer. Miss you kiddo. PS- No boys and no parties. Someone will be over for…'_ Tifa squinted at the last scribbled part, but it was illegible. He had ran out of room and tried to cram in more words than the little spot on the paper allotted.

Tifa chuckled, "Horrible handwriting dad…you need to work on that. Don't have to worry about me having boys over." She took the note down, and hobbled back to the booth. She wanted to go upstairs, but she was exhausted. Grabbing a blanket from a cabinet, she lied down on one of the booths and drifted asleep. Dreaming of soft fluffy snowfalls and playing in the snow.

* * *

Tifa groggily woke up to the sound of someone knocking at the door. It felt like she had just closed her eyes. It was the first night in many that she had slept so soundly. "Ugh," she groaned at all of the aching muscles that protested at her movement. Temporarily disoriented, she looked around her. It was dark in the bar. The knocking grew louder. "Hold on!" She shouted as she looked at her phone. It was nine in the evening. The time the bar would normally open. Tifa let out a groan. She had forgotten to put the 'closed sign' up. With a sigh she wobbled to the door. Along the way she flicked the lights of the bar on. "Sorry we aren't open tonight…" she started to explain to the patron knocking at the door. She trailed off.

Before her was Sephiroth in a tailored black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. His hair tied back showing off his facial features that were normally framed by his long hair. Up close Tifa could see he had high cheek bones, strong jaws topped off with striking green eyes.

He had a certain authoritative air about him. He looked like he had stepped out from one those high society magazines. His lips curled into a smile at the sight of her. A smiling Sephiroth...Tifa couldn't help but think he belonged in those historical romantic novel covers that Yukkie kept pestering her to read. She could imagine her friend's glee of delight if she ever laid eyes on Sephiroth in his casual clothes. "Evening," Sephiroth said. He had raised an eyebrow at Tifa who realized she was staring.

Tifa blushed, "Um.." She stopped when she noticed that he was holding a large brown bag, and a large black overnight bag. "Sephiroth right? What are..." Tifa stammered, the last time she saw him, was at the hospital and he looked pretty pissed at Cloud. "What…what brings you here?"

"Can I come in?" he asked. Surprised at his appearance at her door, Tifa automatically opened the door wider for him to come in. _Maybe it had to do with the hospital bill_? Tifa thought. As he passed her, she caught a whiff of what smelled like stew.

With a curt nod, he placed his bags on one of the booth's table. Tifa closed the door, lost at what to do. As soon as she walked over to Sephiroth, another knock preceded. She groaned, she wished she had placed the sign up sooner. "Sit," Sephiroth ordered. Without hearing her reply, Sephiroth went over to the door. He grabbed the closed sign that was leaning next to the door and stepped outside to talk to the patron. Tifa could hear their muffled voices, but could not make out what they were saying. After a few minutes, he stepped back in and locked the door.

"Um," Tifa started, "Thank you…what are you doing here? If it is about the hospital bill, just tell me the amount. I will have to pay it in small amounts here and there." Sephiroth remained silent as he looked at her. Uncomfortable because of his gaze,Tifa continued to blabber, "Please don't tell my dad about this. I will definitely take care of the bill. Sorry about earlier…and thank you."

He reached into the bag, and held up a small vial. "It is medication for your leg. If you take that you will be in back to your normal self in a couple of days. And dinner as an apology for earlier today."

_Apology for what? Maybe he was embarrassed about his outburst? All I can see is that I should be the one getting him dinner since he was the one who helped me leave the hospital._ Tifa thought._ "_Here," Sephiroth said as he held the vial out to Tifa.

Tifa took the vial from his outstretched hand and examined the vial. The label on it was an elegant cursive '_Regenerate'._ It was an elixir. Tifa's eyes widen. She recognized the name. The elixir was a very expensive medicine that cost a whole year of their meager income. It was a hot debate her father always talked with their regulars. Only the Shinra elites could afford such medications. "I can't take…"

"I can't return it, I already paid for it. You are supposed to take that for two days every morning and evening. And I am also here for the position."

"What position…" Tifa started, but stop as she remembered that her father had mentioned about hiring someone, since she was in school. And he didn't want her to work at the bar anymore so she could concentrate on her school work.

"Oh…" she had not realized he had already advertised for it. Does her father know that he just hired a high school student? She became upset at her father for not letting her know that he had hired someone. How can he do such a thing without consulting with her?! She was the one who balanced their checks. "I don't think we can hire you." She started, she was going to have a talk with her dad, there was no way he could hire someone with the meager income they brought in, especially now with the hospital bill.

He laughed, "Don't worry, your dad arranged a deal with me, a place to stay in exchange for part-time working. Of course, I will be paying rent since it will only be part-time. You can call him if you want to." He handed her an old looking cellphone. Tifa looked at the phone momentarily surprised. It was not something she expected. She would have thought he would have the latest new phone like Cloud had.

"Ah thank you…" she said. She dialed a number she knew her dad would pick up.

"Hello?" answered her dad on the other side of the line.

"Hey, it is Tifa. Sephiroth is here."

"Tifa! Oh that is great! What a relief! Hold on," her father said. In the background she could hear several people talking as her father moved to a quieter room. _I wonder where he is…_ "Okay sweetie, shoot away. How is the new hire slash renter?"

"Dad?!" she whispered. She looked Sephiroth who had wandered around the bar. "We can't afford to hire someone! And he is a…"

She could hear her dad chuckle, "Don't worry, it actually worked out. I gave him a room to stay in as part of his wages. It's okay if he uses your room right?"

"What!?" Tifa shouted, Sephiroth turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. She smiled at him as she lowered her voice again. "I am not about to give up my room to a stranger. We have no extra room to put him in! Give back whatever money you swindled from him."

"Oh, well if you don't want to give up your room. I am sure you can find something, I already spent his deposit," her dad answered sheepishly.

"How could you!?" Tifa exclaimed in a whisper.

"He seemed desperate, and he said that he knew how expensive it was as a last minute arrangement, and didn't care. Yad-yad-yada," her father said, "Look sweetie, I have to go. Make sure you make him feel at home! He can stay in my room in the mean time. We need the money! And oh yeah, I told him food was included with his room and board."

"Wait!" Tifa exclaimed at her dad, but it was too late. She heard the phone click and the line was silence. He had hung up on her.

Sephiroth was behind the bar now examining everything. Determined to save the poor guy from a bad situation she said, "Look Sephiroth, I don't know what my dad told you. But we really can't take another person, and we have no place for you to stay."

"Your dad mentioned that I can stay in…," he started.

Tifa quickly interrupted him, "My dad is basically taking advantage of your situation and is taking more than what is fair."

Sephiroth shrugged, "Alright, I guess I can find someplace to stay. If I can have my deposit money, my first and last rent money back. I will be on my way."

Tifa's stomach dropped, "How much?"

"About 2k..."

_Shit…there was no way she could get that money back. Especially since her dad told her he had spent it._ "Um…how about I pay you back in little amounts?"

Sephiroth cocked his head as he coolly said, "You know that I need that money in order to find another place to stay at? Plus you still owe me the hospital bill."

Tifa felt like her head was about to burst, her brain was tired. She could not find any other reasons to kick him out, "Um, give me a couple weeks to get the money."

"Then I will stay here in the meantime." He simply stated. Defeated Tifa nodded in agreement. "Shall we start on dinner?" He asked as he preceded to take the food out from the brown bag.


End file.
